


I'm Yours (Eternally)

by Caitstar11



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Angst, Fluff, Human/Vampire Relationship, Inspired by True Blood (TV), M/M, Mystery, Protective Mark, Reincarnation, Romance, but current day scenes are more light-hearted, flashbacks are kind of angsty, sassy haechan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-09-01 18:54:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 48,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16770889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caitstar11/pseuds/Caitstar11
Summary: Mark is a four hundred year old vampire who has accomplished nothing in his immortal life. Finally overcome with the guilt of his sins he decides to give up on everything when suddenly he meets Donghyuck, a bubbly human who manages to see the bright side of life despite overcoming his own fair share of adversities. For the first time in centuries Mark finally knows what it means to love and to be loved - but an unexpected tragedy occurs and Mark once again finds himself alone.He then lives out the next few centuries in grieving when, suddenly in the year 2018, a spark of hope is reignited in his heart when he comes across a sassy waiter who shares an eerie physical resemblance to his past lover…





	1. I

**Author's Note:**

> I just want to quickly point out that the vampires in my fic are inspired by the ones in the American TV series, 'True Blood' but my story is not set in the True Blood universe so vampires are still a secret and there's no such things as fairies or True blood (the beverage) etc...  
> You don't need to have watched the show to understand my fic because everything that you need to know will be explained as we go along. As always I hope you enjoy my fic and please let me know what you think in the comments below! :)

** Year 2018 **

Haechan anxiously watches the door with bated breath. His shift at the diner is about to end in five minutes and for the first time in weeks, his section is empty. His manager, Taeyong, had set a strict rule that as long as he still had customers that arrived during his shift then he was not allowed to clock off work.

When he first started working at the diner this wasn’t really an issue as NCT’s Diner was located in the sketchiest part of Seoul and the only people who really frequented it were people too drunk to notice the multiple health code violations or gullible tourists which aren’t exactly the largest target markets out there.

But in recent months Haechan has had a little problem. At first he thought it was just a coincidence. Maybe this extremely attractive boy with perfectly styled charcoal-coloured hair and milky-coloured skin who came in ten minutes before the end of his shift just happened to finish cram school or something at that specific time. People had routines, it wasn’t _that_ weird. Sure the boy stood out in his impeccable brand name clothes that probably cost more than Haechan’s entire house but it was clear to all that he was a teenager which would probably explain his cravings for the diner’s speciality aka greasy comfort food.

Which is what Haechan _would_ say if the guy actually ate.

Like it was some sort of a ritual, the boy would come in, order a plate of curly fries and then proceed to sit there for the next hour _not_ eating said curly fries. Haechan was perplexed to say in the least. He offered to ask the chef to remake them for him, he asked him if he wanted something different off the menu, he had tried nearly _everything_ to try and get this guy to eat- but he simply just refused to.

Haechan was at a loss. Perhaps he liked the ambiance of the diner? Highly unlikely. Given the sobriety of the other customers, NCT’s Diner was about as peaceful as an airport runway on Christmas Eve.

This obviously didn’t seem to faze the boy in the slightest as he often showed up to the diner with a book in tow. There were a couple of times when Haechan tried to sneak a peek at what Mr Curly-Fries liked to read in his free time but to Haechan’s dismay he found that he could never understand what he was looking at. English, Chinese, Japanese and even _Arabic_ at one point- this guy was clearly well-educated. So exactly _what_ he was doing at their dismal establishment was truly beyond Haechan’s understanding.

But that all being said perhaps he’d finally given up on the diner because in about two minutes it will officially be 8pm which meant that for the first time in over three months, Haechan’s strange customer will not be arriving.

Suddenly the sound of the front door opening causes Haechan to instantly whip his head up only to be disappointed when he realises that it’s just his co-worker, Jeno.

“Don’t give me that look, there’s good news behind me.” Jeno says with a wink as he brushes past.

“I have no idea what you’re talking ab-“

Haechan shuts his mouth when he notices Mr Curly-Fries walking in almost immediately after Jeno. Jeno watches Haechan’s face in amusement and flicks his temple playfully.

“It’s 19:59 which means that you’ve got work to do.”

Haechan rolls his eyes and swats Jeno’s hand away before speed-walking his way over to Mr Curly-Fries favourite table.

“Welcome to NCT’s Diner. I would offer you a menu but I’m thinking you already know what you want to order.”

Mr Curly-fries chuckles awkwardly. “Yes, a plate of curly fries please.”

“No drinks?” Haechan asks, cocking his head to the side.

“None, thank you.”

Haechan smiles at his customer and walks away to place his order at the kitchen.

“Curly-Fries guy was pretty late today, huh? I saw you when I walked in, you were practically sweating bullets.” Jeno teases as soon as Haechan is finished placing his order.

“I was _not.”_ Haechan huffs stubbornly, folding his arms.

“Ah, to be young and in love again. It’s a truly magical feeling.”

“For God’s sake Jeno, we’re the same age so can you stop with the know-it-all act? Also, I am _not_ in love with him for Christ’s sake. I’m more into older guys if you _catch my drift_.”

“Nah, I’m calling you out on this. I saw the way you were batting your eyelashes at him just now.” Jeno says as he pretends to imitate Haechan by rapidly blinking his own eyes.

“ _How?_ My back was facing towards you. You know maybe you’d get better tips from your customers if you actually waited on them instead of trying to analyse my non-existent love life. That lady over there has been waving at you for at least the past five minutes.”

Jeno moves to grabs a bottle of hot sauce from underneath the counter. “Hey, me being a shitty waiter isn’t exactly breaking news around here. Now the secret affair between you and Sexy-Face over there…”

Haechan rolls his eyes and points a firm finger towards the waiting customer. Jeno responds by sticking out his tongue while taking a leisurely walk to a very frustrated looking foreigner.

“I asked for ketchup.” The lady groans in a strong American accent.

“This is ketchup.” Jeno replies back in English, sounding surprisingly fluent.

“No, this is hot sauce. I can literally see a picture of a chilli on the side of the bottle.”

Jeno picks up the bottle and frowns at it for a few seconds before placing it back on the table. “No, no, no. This is a Korean tomato. Enjoy your meal.”

Haechan smacks his forehead and shakes his head as he watches Jeno walk to the back of the kitchen, probably to play that ridiculous game he’s been playing on his phone for the past couple of weeks, while simultaneously ignoring the American woman’s desperate pleas for him to come back. Haechan knew that he himself wasn’t the greatest waiter around but compared to Jeno he was practically employee of the month. It truly was a mystery to Haechan as to how Jeno was still working there.

(It was probably because everyone in the diner had a soft spot for his puppy dog eyes but you would never hear that from Haechan.)

“Order up! One plate of curly fries!”

Haechan averts his attention back to his own situation and quickly delivers the order to his mystifying customer who was utterly engrossed in his book. Haechan slyly glances at the cover and notes that it’s a different one from yesterday.

“Thanks.” He murmurs quietly, eyes never leaving the page.

“No problem.” Haechan replies shyly. He stands there for a few seconds trying to get a better peek at what the other was reading when suddenly, to his surprise, the customer speaks.

“Sanskrit.”

Haechan blinks. “Excuse me?”

“You always steal glances at my books to guess what language it’s in so this time I’m telling you. The book is actually a collection of poems that were written in India many centuries ago.” The other says, finally lifting his eyes to gaze apathetically at Haechan.

Haechan instantly feels his face flush. He didn’t realise that he was being so obvious. This guy probably thought he was some overly nosy freak.

“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snoop. I’ll just leave you to it then.” Haechan stammers as he turns on his heel to run towards the kitchen.

“Wait!” The stranger calls out.

Haechan hesitates for a second before turning around. “Yes?”

“I realise that that might have sounded rude. I, uh, don’t usually talk to a lot of people but I just thought you wouldn’t be able to recognise it which is why I told you. I actually don’t really mind when you stare at what I’m reading because I think it’s perfectly natural to be curious.”

“Oh.” Haechan says feeling more relaxed. He waits a few seconds before he suddenly has a burst of courage. “Hey, do you mind if I ask you something?”

The stranger gently places his book down on the table and raises his eyebrow in anticipation. “Not at all. What would you like to know?”

Haechan takes a deep breath. In all these months he’d never actually had a real conversation with the person in front of him before so he was feeling a little uncharacteristically nervous. “How do know all of these languages? I mean I already feel overwhelmed with Korean and it’s my mother tongue but you…you come in with all these fascinating books and I just don’t know how it’s possible for one human being to know so many different languages. Especially since you look so young, I mean where did you even find the time?”

The young man chuckles and Haechan gulps. His neutral face was already captivating enough but to see the way his nose scrunched up when he laughed was nearly enough fuel to send Haechan into overdrive.

“I’ve travelled… _a lot_ and I guess you could say that it’s somewhat become a hobby of mine. I’ve had a lot of free time in my lifetime so I needed to find ways to keep myself entertained.”

_ He’s probably the son of the multi-millionaire tycoon _ , Haechan thinks to himself.

“That’s really cool. I wish I could learn another language.”

“You should, it’s a lot of fun.”

From the corner of his eye Haechan can see someone obnoxiously snapping their fingers towards him. “Hey look I’ve gotta get back to work but it was really nice to finally be able to talk to you like this. I’m Haechan by the way, can I ask what your name is?” 

“It’s Mark and yeah, it was nice talking to you. It’s a lot easier than I thought it was going to be.”

“Why? Did you think I was scary or something?” Haechan jokes.

“No. You just remind of…never mind. You should probably go and check on the other customers since your co-worker seems to have disappeared.”

“Ugh, he’s in the kitchen playing games on his phone. I swear I’m keeping his tips tonight, that loser. Anyway, um, again it was nice to meet you Mark.”

Mark responds by giving Haechan a warm smile and it takes nearly all of Haechan’s self-control not to squeal.

Crap. Was that idiot Jeno actually on to something?

The next day Haechan is once again at work way after his shift had ended. Mark had already arrived but due to the sudden large influx of customers he hadn’t had a chance to chat to him again. It was a Friday night which was usually their busiest night so _of course_ Jeno was twenty minutes late for his shift.

Haechan feels a weight lifted off his shoulders when he finally notices the large group of heavily intoxicated businessmen walk out the door but the happiness is only short lived when not long after that a greasy-looking man wearing a red tracksuit enters the establishment and plops himself right in the middle of Haechan’s section.

He mentally groans and walks over to the customer with the fakest smile he can muster. “Hello and welcome to NCT’s Diner. How are you doing tonight?” Haechan says, carefully placing a menu in front of the man.

“Yeah, so I’d like your chicken and tomato sandwich but instead of tomato I’d like a slice of cheese.” The man says disinterestedly while leaning comfortably back onto his chair.

Haechan sighs and scribbles down the order onto his notepad. “Would you like it on white or brown bread sir?”

“Brown. No, white. You know what? How about you just put it in a bun? And while you’re at it turn that chicken into a beef patty for me would ya?”

Haechan clears his throat. “I can do that for you sir but then that would mean I’d have to ring it up as a cheeseburger.”

“What? No, you can’t do that! The cheeseburger is more expensive! I’m not paying more for a simple sandwich!” The customer yells incredulously, slamming his hands onto the table.

Haechan flinches. He’s had a long day and he _really_ isn’t in the mood for this kind of bullshit.

“ _Sir,_ with all due respect, the chicken and tomato is made up of _two_ ingredients. It’s literally in the name. So when you ask me to replace _both_ of those ingredients it then yes, unfortunately I do change the name of your order and yes, it is going to be more expensive. If you want a meal for the same price as the chicken and tomato sandwich then, oh I don’t know, _order_ _the chicken and tomato sandwich.”_

The customer glares at Haechan and stays silent for a few minutes. At first Haechan thinks that he’ll be too embarrassed to say anything but of course with his bad luck being what it is the customer instead utters the words that he hates most in the world.

“I’d like to talk to your manager.”

Haechan flashes the customer his biggest insincere smile and dramatically turns around, making certain to flip his hair while he did so. He then tries to walk as slowly as he can to towards the kitchen only to come face-to-face with his manager, Taeyong, who was waiting for him with his arms folded when he arrives.

“I, uh, don’t suppose you happened to see any of that?” Haechan asks weakly.

“I saw _everything._ Just wait here while I try to diffuse the situation and try not to fuck anything else up in the meantime, okay?”

Haechan meekly nods his head and places his notepad back into his apron’s pocket. He stands around awkwardly for a few minutes before he accidently makes eye contact with the chef in the kitchen who gives him an apologetic smile.

“Here.” The chef suddenly says, placing a wrapped up box onto the counter-top. “It’s the leftover cake from the window. I was going to take it home for myself but I think you need it more than me.”

“Really? Thanks, Kun-hyung. You sure Taeyong-hyung won’t notice?”

“Yes he will since he’s been eyeing that cake since Wednesday.” Taeyong says, suddenly appearing from the back of Haechan. “Kun, what the fuck? You’ve been stealing desserts from the diner? _You’re_ the one who makes them in the first place!”

Kun shamefully hangs his head. “I know. Stealing the leftovers from work is the only badass thing I know how to do.”

Taeyong rubs his temple and mutters, “Idiots. I’m surrounded by idiots. A waiter who backchats the customers and a chef who steals his own goddamn food. I need to find a better job.”

“Hey, if I’m such a terrible waiter then what I am doing here _half an hour_ after my shift ended?”

“Fine! Keep the cake! Even though it’s a black forest cake and you don’t even _like_ jam!” Taeyong shouts exasperatedly.

Haechan beams brightly. “Thank you. Now if you excuse me I have to deliver these breadsticks that I may or may not have sneezed on to a crabby middle-aged guy who’s only here because his wife left him, his kids hate him and this is the only form of social interaction he’s had for the entire week.”

“Don’t bother. He stormed out of here when I told him that we were going to charge him for a cheeseburger.” Taeyong says suddenly casting his eyes down to his feet.

Haechan stops in his tracks. “Wow. To think you stood up here lecturing me about how the customer is always right when at least I’m not the one who actually made him _leave._ ”

Taeyong immediately straightens his shoulders and scowls at Haechan. “The customer is only right up until we start to lose money. If that situation arises then you need to learn how to diffuse it _diplomatically_ and certainly not with sarcasm. I swear one of these day I’m either going to fire you or Jeno and right now since I’m still mad about the cake thing I’m thinking it’s probably going to be you!”

“Like you’d ever have the guts to fire me.” Haechan mocks with another hair flip.

Taeyong curls his fists into a tight ball. “Okay, you know what? Since you’re _obviously_ keeping those breadsticks, I’ve decided that _I’m_ keeping the cake.”

“Great, so Haechan gets the breadsticks that I baked and Taeyong gets the cake that I _also_ baked while what do I get? Oh that’s right, nothing.” Kun remarks sarcastically.

“Shut up Kun. I’m still mad at you for stealing from the diner. I’m the manager which is why I can, uh, bend the rules.” Taeyong says while awkwardly clearing his throat. “Now enough fooling around from the both of you. Kun, you’d better get started on baking that cheesecake for our weekend special and Haechan you need to get back to your customers. If you need me I’ll be in my office…doing important work stuff.”

“Important work stuff that involves a fork. Nice.” Haechan says while narrowing his eyes.

Taeyong simply purses his lips and makes a hasty leave. Haechan shakes his head and also exits the kitchen to make his way back to the seated area. He notices that one of his tables had been vacated and on the surface lay some cash. He quickly goes over to count it up and furrows his eyebrows when he realises that he’s only been left a 5% tip. Why were tourists so fucking stingy?

At that moment the sound of the door opening distracts him from his disappointment. He looks up and is immediately filled with relief when he discovers that Jeno has finally shown up for his shift.

Haechan’s curiosity is suddenly piqued though when he realises that Jeno’s hair is slightly ruffled and his skin slightly more flushed than usual but as much as he was dying to ask Jeno what the deal was he was still, first and foremost, pissed.

“What the fuck, bro? You’re like a half an hour late! I’ve been busting my ass covering your tables when you know damn well that my shift already ended.” Haechan hisses in a seething tone as he follows Jeno to the back room.

Jeno smirks knowingly. “Mr Curly-Fries is still here. We both know you would never have left as long as he was still around.”

Haechan’s face instantly flushes. “That’s so not true! I have a little something known as professionalism. Something which _you_ are desperately lacking. And just so you know, his name isn’t Mr Curly-Fries anymore. It’s Mark.”

Jeno gasps as he (lopsidedly) ties his lime green apron around his waist. “You guys are on a first name basis now?!”

Haechan feels a sense of excitement bubbling up in his chest but immediately pushes it down. “Not that it’s any of your business but, yes. You see Mark and I well we have this amazing connection. He likes to read ancient foreign poetry while I…think that that’s hot.”

Jeno whistles as he leans back onto the wall. “Sounds like you’ve met your soulmate.”

“Shut up. I’m still mad at you by the way. Where the hell have you been anyway? You weren’t, like, with a girl or something right? ‘Cause your hair is all fucked up and your face is looking alive tonight which is a rare occurrence for your pale ass.”

Jeno throws his head back and laughs. “Jealous much? Don’t worry Haechanie, you’re still my number one.”

“Your number one anti that’s for sure.” Haechan throws back confidently.

Jeno instantly flashes his signature eye-smile. “Relax, okay? I just went out for a drink and a meal with a friend. Can’t come to work on an empty stomach now can I?”

“You literally work at a restaurant. What, you think you’re better than the rest of us so you don’t need to steal food from work?” Haechan mocks as he folds his arms.

Jeno shrugs his shoulders. “Kind of. I love myself too much to put that poison into my system.”

“Hey, the food isn’t _that_ bad when Kun’s around. You’re just a brat you know that? If it weren’t for that annoyingly perfect face of yours I bet you’d be living on the streets.” Haechan sneers while lightly poking Jeno’s chest.

Jeno beams proudly. “You know, I was pretty bummed out to come to work today but now that I finally know that you _do_ indeed think that I’m handsome I think I’m going to be alright.”

Haechan’s ears turn red. “Shut up.”

Jeno simply winks at Haechan who then angrily stomps out of the room. Now that Jeno was here it meant that he could finally clock off work. The only customer left in his section was Mark who had appeared to have finished his book and was currently staring out of the window with a brooding expression on his face.

“All done?” Haechan asks once he’s standing in front of Mark’s table again.

Mark silently nods his head and continues to gaze outside, his attention seemingly captivated by something that only he could see.

“Great.” Haechan replies as he comfortably seats himself in the opposite side of the booth.

Mark quickly snaps his head to gawk at Haechan who had now started to eat Mark’s untouched fries.

“What? My shift is over and we both know _you’re_ never gonna eat these.” Haechan says, attempting to defend himself.

Mark stares at Haechan for a few moments before a small smile appears on his face. “I guess I was just shocked at your tenacity. You’re completely different from how I imagined you to be.”

“Well what did you think I was going to be?” Haechan mumbles through a mouthful of fries.

“Not…this. It’s nice though. You’re different and different is good. You can’t spend your whole life trying to cling to the past after all.” Mark comments wistfully.

Haechan nods his head. To be honest he didn’t really understand what Mark was talking about but he sure did look fine as hell saying it so he wasn’t complaining.

Mark suddenly coughs and looks down at the table awkwardly. “Listen, I couldn’t help but hear your conversation with your colleagues earlier.”

Haechan’s heart immediately begins to race. Crap, did he hear him calling him hot? This was so embarrassing and totally Jeno’s fault. Haechan makes a quick mental reminder to ‘accidently’ drop Jeno’s phone into tonight’s soup special.

“About the cake?” Mark probes hesitantly.

Haechan sighs with relief. “Oh yeah, sorry about that. Were we talking loudly?”

“Yelling actually. But that’s beside the point. Look I know this might seem a bit out of the blue but how would you like it if I took you to one of my favourite dessert places in the city?”

“I thought you didn’t eat?” Haechan teases while staring pointedly at the plate of fries in between them.

Mark’s face instantly turns red as he looks down into his palms. “I _do_ eat but it’s a very, um, specific diet which, yeah, doesn’t involve desserts. But I’ve known the owner for many, many years and from what I gather her customers always seem to be satisfied.”

Haechan stops to think for a moment. One the one hand, he didn’t know this guy. He had some pretty bizarre hobbies and he was way too secretive. As far as making sure that people weren’t serial killers Haechan was pretty sure that that was _definitely_ not a good combination. On the other though, physical attractiveness aside, there was something alluring about Mark that Haechan couldn’t place. Maybe it was the former’s large doe eyes but somehow Haechan just got the feeling that when it comes to matters that deal with Mark, everything would be okay

“Let’s do it. I’ve had a totally shitty day so fuck my diet, right? I’ve just gotta go collect my tips from my manager and then I’ll meet you outside?”

Mark nods and quickly fishes out a swanky black leather wallet from his pocket. He pulls out a couple of notes and gingerly pushes them towards Haechan. “Here, will this be enough for my meal?”

Haechan’s jaw drops. “Dude, you’ve been coming here for months you know that a plate of fries doesn’t cost this much.”

“I know, the remainder is your tip.”

“This tip costs more than your meal. Here, take some of these back this is ridiculous.” Haechan says as he attempts to push back half the notes.

“No, it’s okay. You need it more than me.” Mark reasons as he shoves his wallet back into his coat pocket.

Haechan nervously bites his lip and smiles shyly at Mark. “Thanks. Um, let me just go and sort this out then.”

“Great. See you in five.” Mark says while giving Haechan a ridiculously endearing smile.

Haechan wipes away the sheen of sweat that had mysteriously appeared on his forehead and hurriedly makes his way to Taeyong’s office where the latter was furiously scrubbing the surface of his desk with what seemed like a home-brought cleaning kit.

“You missed a spot.” Haechan announces as he drops Mark’s cash onto the table.

“Where?” Taeyong asks desperately, eyes rapidly searching around the desk.

“Here.” Haechan answers as he uses the back of his thumb to wipe away a smear of jam that was located on the corner of Taeyong’s mouth.

Taeyong freezes before he awkwardly coughs and seats himself back onto his chair. “Thanks.”

“No problem. That’s my tip from my latest customer by the way.” Haechan says while pointing to the wad of cash.

Taeyong’s eyes widen as he quickly counts the number of notes. “You’re saying that that guy who orders a single serving of curly fries everyday left you a tip _that_ big?”

“What can I say? I charmed him with my _diplomacy.”_ Haechan responds sarcastically before he playfully sticks out his tongue.

“Don’t test me, boy.” Taeyong warns while he his wags his index finger in Haechan’s direction. “Anyway here are your tips for tonight. Your last tip outweighs all of your other tips combined, amazing.”

“I know, I tried to tell Mark that it was too much but he insisted and well, I’m a broke-ass college student so who am I to complain?”

Taeyong quirks one of his eyebrows. “Mark is it, hmm?”

“Yeah we got to talking, he’s actually taking me out for dessert after this. I swear, his family probably owns some mega corporation or something you should see how expensive his Rolex looks up close.”

“Well aren’t you lucky he’s taken in interest in you?” Taeyong pauses and burrows his eyebrows for a few seconds before he takes a deep breath. “Be careful around him, okay? I sensed something… weird about him when I walked past him earlier tonight. A guy like that doesn’t belong in a rundown diner like ours that I can tell you. He’s got some sort of motive but I just can’t tell what it is.”

Haechan casts his eyes down solemnly. “I know, hyung. I-I have my doubts about him too but I can’t describe it. When I’m with him I just feel so comfortable like I’ve known him for years, you know? Like the logical side of my brain is telling me that he’s a complete stranger - and a really shady one at that too - but when I look into his eyes my heart tells me to trust him.” Haechan pauses to laugh pitifully. “God, they’re going to find my body in the Han River aren’t they?”

Taeyong sighs heavily and rub his eyes. “You’re not going to die. You’re smart, if something comes up then then you’ll be able to weasel your way out of it. It’s one of the few things that you’re _actually_ good at it.”

“If that was a snide comment about my waiting skills then I will graciously ignore it. Lord knows I’m better than Jeno out there who probably hasn’t even _started_ taking people’s orders yet.”

Taeyong groans and slams his head onto his desk. After a few minutes he brings it up and softly says. “I’m not saying that I’ll be _waiting_ or anything but if you _feel_ like dropping me a text as soon as you’re at home again then you know, do that.”

Haechan gives Taeyong a fond smile and playfully ruffles his hair causing the elder to whine something about kids needing to respect their elders.

“I will, hyung.”

After that Haechan quickly dashes to the back room where he quickly rips off his green apron and white tee in favour of his regular clothes. Black skinny jeans with a simple shirt of the same colour that had an image of Michael Jackson on the front. It wasn’t exactly the type of clothes that he typically wore on a first date ( _Was_ it a date?) but it was going to have to do.

He races through the diner to get to the front door, while simultaneously ignoring Jeno’s knowing gaze, and is immediately relieved when he finally pushes the door open to be greeted by the rush of cool air slapping across his skin.

Haechan turns his head around and quickly spots Mark leaning against a wall, distractedly scrolling through something on his phone.

“Ready to go?” Haechan asks brightly.

At the sound of his voice Mark immediately snaps his head up and slips his phone into his back pocket. “Sure.”

During their walk Mark attempts to make small talk by asking Haechan about his life at college. Haechan animatedly describes in detail about his uni friends and his wacky professors while Mark listens intently. Haechan was used to people finding him annoying or overly-talkative but he learnt pretty quickly that not only did Mark have a lot of patience, he _genuinely_ seemed to have an interest in what he had to say.

Haechan could swear he could literally feel himself swooning.

After about twenty minutes Haechan tries to turn the conversation towards Mark, curious to know pretty much _anything_ about the enigmatic boy beside him but all he is met with each time are vague and open-ended statements that, quite frankly, left Haechan more confused than he was to begin with. Deciding that it wasn’t worth the hassle, Haechan decides to spare Mark and instead launches into the story of how he and his younger siblings were nearly drowned at sea during a family vacation to Jeju Island.

“Wait.” Mark suddenly whispers while harshly throwing his arm in front of Haechan.

Haechan’s skin immediately breaks out into goosebumps at the sudden physical contact but he has no time to enjoy the moment when he looks over at Mark and notices the tense expression on his face.

“What?” He whispers cautiously.

“Someone’s following us.” Mark answers as he swiftly scours the area.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Mark. This Seoul, nothing bad ever happens here.”

“Shh!” Mark warns as he urgently slams his hand over Haechan’s mouth. Haechan nervously gulps and slowly turns his head to face in the same direction as Mark’s. He stifles a scream when he finally notices a shadowy figure emerging from the side.

“Identify yourself!” Mark orders firmly.

A sinister laugh echoes throughout the street instantly causing Haechan’s blood to curdle. This was his first time being involved in a confrontation like this so he wasn’t entirely sure how to react but he felt slightly reassured knowing that Mark was beside him.

“I’m in no mood for games! You either show yourself to me, or I come to you.” Mark threatens loudly.

“Now, now. No need for such cruel words. I am not _your_ enemy.” The shadow mocks as he comes into sight.

Haechan squints his eyes to try and make out who the stranger could possibly be and widens his eyes when he recognises the red tracksuit. He violently rips Mark’s hand away from his mouth and points an accusatory finger towards the figure.

“It’s you! Cheeseburger Dude!”

“I have a name, you know. It’s-“

“Irrelevant.” Mark interrupts calmly. “To think you would follow my friend over here all the way across town just to harass him about something as ridiculous as a _cheeseburger_ is quite unforgiveable.” Mark pauses to take a deep breath. “Nonetheless, I am trying to make a good impression here so if you would like to use this opportunity to slink back to whatever hell-hole you crawled from, I would suggest that you do. I’m not nearly as mild-mannered as I may appear.”

“Neither am I.” Cheeseburger Dude grins as his eyes turn into a horrifying shade of red and a pair of glisteningly sharp fangs pop out of his mouth.

Haechan gasps at the startling sight in front of him and instantly drops to his knees. Mark turns to look at him with concern which creates an opening for Cheeseburger Dude to suddenly launch himself towards them. Haechan immediately shuts his eyes, bracing himself for whatever may come which after a few seconds he realises is…nothing? He hesitantly flickers open one eye and discovers Mark using one hand to hold the man by his neck against a nearby wall. His knees begin to visibly rattle when he notices Mark tighten his grip and whisper something inaudible to the man.

The man seems to ignore Mark and before Haechan can even register what’s happening, the two abruptly disappear. Haechan frowns and quickly tries to scan his eyes throughout the area when suddenly he hears a loud cracking noise coming from behind him. Swallowing painfully, he hesitantly turns around and notices a pair of dark figures in the abandoned alleyway across the street. Was that Mark and Cheeseburger Dude? How did they get all the way there in such a short period of time? Did he pass out at some point?

Squinting his eyes to try and visualise what he was looking at, Haechan nearly screams again when he watches the larger of the two figures slowly stumble forward before finally collapsing to the ground with deafening thud. Haechan squeezes his eyes shut once again and places his sweaty palms onto the ice-cold floor in front of him in an attempt to steady himself. 

Suddenly a feathery touch trickles along his nape and it takes nearly all of his willpower not to fall over.

“It’s me.” Says a voice familiar to Haechan’s ears.

Haechan instantly opens his eyes and tilts his head up to see Mark gazing down at him sympathetically. Instantaneously filled with relief, Haechan immediately lifts himself up and throws his arms around Mark’s neck. He has _so_ many questions but at the moment nothing else but the fact that Mark is unhurt matters.

Afore mentioned Mark immediately stiffens up in Haechan’s sudden embrace but Haechan doesn’t care. He inhales deeply to try and store Mark’s scent into his brain forever while Mark’s hand hesitantly hovers above the small of his back. Eventually after a few minutes Mark slowly slinks his arms around Haechan’s waist and brings them closer. Haechan doesn’t fail to notice the way the other was slightly shaking as he did so but figures that it’s probably because he’s still probably coming down from his adrenaline rush.

“Haechan.” Mark’s voice sounds a lot thicker than usual. “Haechan, listen to me. I know you’re still scared but we need to get out of here. That guy, he’s going to wake up soon and we can’t be here when he does.”

Haechan lifts his head to meet Mark’s gaze. He knows he really shouldn’t but for some inexplicable reason he trusts Mark.

“Okay.”

Mark places a firm grip onto Haechan’s arm and starts to pull him in the opposite direction. Even in his blank state of mind Haechan couldn’t help but notice how strong Mark was. He figured he wouldn’t have much strength considering how slim his body frame was but after seeing what he did to Cheeseburger Dude and considering how hard he was dragging him at the moment, Haechan suddenly has his doubts.

After a couple moments of intense sprinting Haechan finally reaches his limit and pleads with Mark to stop. Mark instantly halts and brings Haechan closer towards him as he snaps his head around to sense for danger.

It was weird. Haechan really didn’t even know Mark but here he was, burying his face into his chest like they’d known each other for years. As terrifying as their current predicament was Haechan just _knew_ that Mark would never abandon him which helped to subside his fears a little.

“I think we’re in the clear.” Mark announces, clearly sounding relieved.

Haechan slowly pushes himself away as he finally feels his unresolved anger rise up. “What the fuck was that? That guy, he had red glowing eyes. His teeth, t-they looked like _fangs,_ Jesus Christ. Tell me the truth, was that even human?!”

Mark averts his gaze and remains silent.

“No, seriously Mark. Who was he and what does he want?”

“I don’t know.” Mark admits honestly. “I’d never met him before but from what I gather that little skit of his at the diner earlier on tonight was all for show. All I know is that he’s after you but I honestly don’t know why.”

“ _After me?_ What the hell, I’m just a college student! This isn’t a movie you know, it’s real life. Plus how the fuck did you guys move so fast? How on earth did someone as fucking skinny as you take down a _freak_ like that?!”

“I-I don’t know what to tell you.” Mark says while reaching forward to place his hand on Haechan’s shoulder but before he could, Haechan immediately whacks it away and glares at Mark defiantly.

“You’re lying to me. I can see it in your eyes.”

Mark’s face instantly falters as his hand awkwardly wavers in the air for a few seconds. “I’m sorry. I truly am. I-I should have never gotten involved with you but whenever I see that face of yours I lose all sense of self-control. Haechan, you have to believe me, I would never hurt you. If it makes you feel any better, I’ll try to keep my distance from now on.”

“You know what? Maybe you should. My life was a lot less complicated before _you_ started coming around and as a matter of fact I think I’m just going to go home, _alone,_ and pretend this night never happened. I trust that you’re going to take care that _ghoul_ out there, right?”

“He’ll never lay a finger you.” Mark answers emotionlessly with a glassy look in his eyes.

“Good.”

Haechan swiftly spins around and starts the walk back to his house. He really didn’t know what to make of this situation. For now it was just easy to pretend that his life was still normal and that everything was the same as it was yesterday but deep down he knew it wasn’t. His head was throbbing and he just wanted to be in curled up in bed already so he didn’t have to think about the fact that his heart was literally breaking.

Out of curiosity he slightly turns his head to check if Mark is still standing behind him but is instantly disappointed when he realises that the other had already long disappeared. Sighing, Haechan decides not to think about it too much and to instead focus on making it back home in one piece.

Ironically though, trying to erase tonight’s events from his memories was proving easier said than done. Anytime he saw something move from the corner of his eye or anytime anyone accidently brushed up against him, he jumped. He wished he’d asked Mark to accompany him home first before casting him out of his life like that.

Come to think of it he never asked Mark for a phone number or an address. He’d gotten so used to Mark just always being there at the diner that he’d clean forgotten to ask him for his contact details. If he had no way to get in touch with Mark added to the fact that he’d just told him to stay away from him then…

_ Oh _

Was that the last time he would he ever see Mark, only god knows his surname, for the rest of his life? Haechan stopped in his tracks. Why did he always have to be so impulsive? He still had so many questions for Mark and now there’s a good possibility that he will have to spend the rest of his life never knowing what the fuck that _thing_ was. Not to mention the fact that he would never see Mark again.

Suddenly feeling dizzy, Haechan turns into an empty park and find himself a bench. He seats himself down and leans back with his eyes closed. He takes a deep breath and tries to relax himself. Why was he so upset? Mark was clearly a liar and someone who could not be trusted. At the same time Haechan did have to admit that Mark saved his life and he seemed pretty intent on making sure he _stayed_ safe. Haechan can’t really say that any of the guys that he dated in the past would have been that brave. Not to mention there was that electrifying hug of theirs…

Completely lost in his own thoughts and woes Haechan fails to notice the crunching sound of footsteps approaching.

“Hello sunshine.” A venomous voice creeps into his ear.

Instantly snapping his eyes open Haechan spills onto the floor in shock and quickly turns himself around to see a very much unharmed Cheeseburger Dude hovering above him with an ominous smile on his face.

“D-don’t come any closer!” Haechan attempts to scoot himself away from the villain in front of him but each time he slid back, the older man would take a confident step forward.

“What’s wrong? No bodyguard this time?”

Haechan swallows and tries to search the area to see if there was anyone around but alas, they were alone.

“What do you want from me? We’ve never met and you can’t possibly tell me this all about a sandwich.” Haechan questions urgently in an attempt to temporarily stall his attacker.

“Of course it isn’t. That was all just a ruse. Actually, I don’t really know who you are to be honest but I’ve been given orders to, how to phrase this politely, _take you out.”_

“By whom?”

“If I told you I’d have to kill you. Oh wait.”

Without warning the man abruptly pounces and Haechan is left with no choice but to shield his face with his hands and pray that his life ends quickly but for the second time that evening, he finds himself completely unhurt.

Not wanting to move from his position he suddenly hears the sound of someone choking followed by a gurgling noise which prompts him to slowly remove his hand from his face to try and ascertain what was going on. Once his line of sight is clear he immediately realises that his would-be assailant’s face is hovering only a few mere centimetres away from his own. Except there was something different about him this time. His sardonic eyes which were previously filled with maleficence and tyranny were now unblinking and entirely void of life.

Confused, Haechan doesn’t even have time to react before the body on top of him is being tossed to the side by a third party. He tries to focus his eyes on who had just helped him when he finally recognises the person to be very dazed-looking Mark. Haechan’s insides are instantly flooded with relief up until he looks more carefully and realises that Mark’s eyes were glowing crimson red. 

Convulsing violently, he immediately attempts to bring himself up when he suddenly notices a wet object slip from Mark’s hand and land on the floor with a strikingly audible squelching sound. The object is dark in colour and due it to being the middle of the night, Haechan struggles to distinguish exactly _what_ it is until he thoroughly analyses the unusual colour of Mark’s hand and to his horror, deduces that it is covered in fresh blood.

_ Fuck. _

“Mark?” Haechan calls out numbly.

“Yeah?” Mark replies distractedly as his eyes focus on the red liquid still trickling down his trembling hands.

“I think it’s time you told me who the fuck you are.”


	2. II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lil' flashback that explains why Mark is so nervous around Haechan! In this story 'Haechan' and 'Donghyuck' are two separate people with Donghyuck being Haechan's past life.

**_Year 1344_ **

Minhyung opens his eyes and is instantly welcomed by darkness. He strains his ears for any noises and relaxes when he hears the sound of an owl hooting. He grunts as he pushes the cover of his coffin away from himself and hops out, landing on the floor with a heavy thud. He quickly dusts himself off and notices that the slightly larger coffin that lives next to his is empty.

He closes his eyes to concentrate and hears the faint sound of a familiar tune being sung by one of his favourite voices in the world. He moves his feet towards to source of the music and finds himself standing outside. He quickly scans the area and discovers his maker, Kim Dongyoung, lying flat down in the field, basking in the moonlight.

He quickly vamp speeds to where his maker is and wordlessly flops himself down beside him. Dongyoung hums in acknowledgement but otherwise makes no attempt to open his eyes. Minhyung gazes at his maker fondly. Back when Minhyung was a human, nearly four hundred years ago, his father had forced him to become a soldier at the barely ripened age of fourteen. He lived his life on the battlefield, fighting a war that he didn’t even understand for the next five years until one day he couldn’t take the senseless bloodshed anymore and found himself standing on a cliff, one leap away from becoming one with the ocean.

By chance, Dongyoung happened to come across the boy after feasting on the grievously injured warriors who had been left on the battlefield to die by their comrades. When he saw Minhyung, one foot nervously dangling over the edge of the cliff, he immediately called out to the boy. When Minhyung turned around and made eye contact with the vampire, Dongyoung had nearly gasped. In his five hundred years of life he had never seen so much pain and regret in _any_ human’s eyes, let alone in the eyes of someone so young. For the first time in centuries Dongyoung had felt something move in his heart and immediately offered to make the boy into an immortal and to provide him with a life more fulfilling than he could ever imagine. Lured by the promise of happiness, Minhyung agreed.

From the moment on he had never left Dongyoung’s side. They travelled the world together, watched civilisations be created and then watched them be destroyed. He loved Dongyoung for giving him a chance to be reborn and while he never resented the elder, there were definitely moments when Minhyung hated himself for what he had become. His life had no real purpose. This wouldn’t necessarily be a problem for Minhyung because even if he didn’t have any dreams for the future, at least he got to enjoy the feeling of being strong and never dying. Watching the world around him evolve in ways that he couldn’t have even imagined was a truly mesmerising experience and honestly speaking Minhyung would actually really have enjoyed being an immortal if it weren’t for one thing.

_His undying quench for blood._

His lust for blood controlled his life. At this point, he’d pretty much lost count of the number of people he’s murdered over the years. He hated hurting humans but somehow the deep hunger within him always found incredible ways to rationalise his deplorable actions. As a result, Minhyung often went through phases when the guilt was so strong, he was unable to even _stomach_ the taste of human blood. Like he was right now.

“What are you doing?” Minhyung asks as he huddles closer to his maker.

“Tonight is a full moon.” Dongyoung answers back with a dreamy sigh.

“So?”

“So this is the only way that I can bask in the light without bursting into flames. I want to savour this moment, to cherish it, to remember what it is like to feel the rays of the sun beating down my back.”

“Your back isn’t even exposed to the moon.” Minhyung teases as he playfully pokes Dongyoung’s cheek.

“Enough with your insolence, brat. If you find my interests that boring then why not find one of your own? You’ve been running in between my legs for nearly four centuries now, it would be good for you to find yourself a hobby.” Dongyoung chastises as he half-heartedly swats Minhyung’s hand away.

Minhyung frowns. “But I enjoy spending time with you.”

Dongyoung turns his head to smile fondly at Minhyung when he finally notices the ashy colour of his skin, his sunken eyes, and the way his hands were tremoring.

“When was the last time you fed?” Dongyoung snaps, immediately getting up.

Minhyung fearfully turns his head, too ashamed to make eye-contact with the other. “I do not remember.”

“You _do not remember?_ You are so foolish, my child. If you do not eat your hunger will consume you and soon you will not be able to control yourself. You will end up killing more humans during your subsequent rampage than you will if you simply feed on one human now. Perhaps two judging from your appearance.”

Minhyung squeezes his eyes shut as he wills himself not to cry. “I-I cannot. I do not wish to harm anyone else anymore. The guilt, it’s too severe. It’s stronger than my hunger.”

Dongyoung rubs his forehead. He knows how urgent it is for Minhyung to feed but he also knew his progeny well enough to realise that when he’s in this state of mind then it was nearly impossible to try and change it.

“Look, the other night I was hunting and I came across this house. It belonged to a doctor. You are aware of the disease that is spreading among the humans, correct?” Dongyoung questions.

Minhyung meekly nods his head, spurring Dongyoung to continue. “It’s fatal. I hear that once infected, the human will only have less than a week to live.”

“What is the purpose of this information, hyung?” Minhyung weakly asks as he brings himself into a kneeling position.

“You need to visit that house. The doctor, he is illegally treating patients from his home. Almost everyone from the village who gets sick ends up at his house. Minhyung, those people are already dying. If anything you will be placing them out of their misery.”

Minhyung sucks in a deep breath and begins to quiver. “No. I have made my decision. Even if it costs me my life, I shall never harm another human ever again.”

Dongyoung glares at Minhyung, pupils shaking. “Do not make me do this, I _implore_ of you.”

Minhyung gasps as he immediately understands the threat and quickly stands up in an attempt to flee. Unfortunately Dongyoung has five hundred years on Minhyung and instantly flashes to the front of him and pins him down to the ground with ease.

“Hyung, please! Don’t do this to me. I’ve suffered for far too long and I wish to be at peace. LET ME GO!” Minhyung wails as he futilely thrashes around.

“Peace?!” Dongyoung scoffs. “You think there is _peace_ for demons like us? No, there is only survival. You cannot die of hunger, my son. You will only wither up into skin and bones while your conscious mind screams for mercy. You will forget everything you know about yourself and will only be able to think of one thing for an eternity, blood.”

Minhyung instantly bares his fangs at the mention of his greatest weakness while red tears stain his cheeks. Dongyoung shakes his head pitifully as he places his forehead onto Minhyung’s. “I think of you as my child, Minhyung. To see you in suffering like this causes my heart to ache. You will never understand this pain until you create a vampire of your own so until then I beg for your forgiveness while I selfishly keep you around for my own happiness. As your maker, I command you to travel through the forest until you find the doctor’s house thereafter which you must sate your hunger. Until you do this, you are forbidden from coming home. Do you understand?”

Minhyung lets out a sob before he slowly nods his head. Dongyoung sighs and lifts himself up. “Good. Now go and be certain to shield yourself from the sun. You know that she is our one enemy that even I cannot defeat.”

“I know.” Minhyung chokes out as his body, against his wishes, stands up. He stares at Dongyoung, silently pleading, only to have his maker sharply turn his head away from him. Minhyung sniffs and harshly rubs the tears off his face before turning on his heel and disappearing into the dark night, alone.

Once he is out of hearing range Dongyoung’s legs finally give out from under him as he unceremoniously falls to his knees. He spends the rest of his night shedding silent scarlet tears on behalf of his beloved son.

The maker-progeny relationship is a tricky one. The bond between these two individuals is so strong it transcends anything a human could ever even begin imagine. The bond can be platonic, familial, or even romantic in some cases. For Minhyung, he saw Dongyoung as the only piece of family he had left in the world. He would be even willing to _die_ for the elder if that was what he required.

Due to Minhyung’s general obedience Dongyoung seldom had to exercise his maker powers over him but tonight for the first time since Minhyung was a baby vampire, he did. When a maker commands their progeny to do something the progeny will have no choice but to follow through, regardless of how unwilling they might be.

In the end Minhyung doesn’t resent Dongyoung for what he did. He wanted to but his affection for his maker is too strong. He knows that if he doesn’t feed, he will not be able to go home and for Minhyung, that is simply just not an option.

A few hours go by and Minhyung is partially lost. He has a vague idea of where he is but he still has no idea how to find the doctor’s house. He and Dongyoung only moved to this part of the country a few weeks ago so he hasn’t had much time to explore the woods. He wanders around fruitlessly, hoping to find his destination before the sun comes up.

Suddenly, the sound of a loud thud catches Minhyung’s attention. It’s followed by a strange crunching noise and some very colourful language. _A human?_ Minhyung thinks to himself. Once again he feels his fangs pop out involuntarily and curses at himself. He stands still and waits for the human to leave but concern takes over his body when he realises that he doesn’t hear any footsteps, indicating that the human is not moving.

Forcing himself to relax, he painfully retracts his teeth and slowly walks to where the noise initially came from. He doesn’t smell any blood so hopefully it’s a good sign. He eventually makes his way to the clearing and instantly spots a young boy of no more than eighteen lying face down in the dirt. Minhyung wonders why he hasn’t gotten up when he finally notices the large tree branch thrown across the other’s left leg.

Minhyung awkwardly coughs. “Are you-are you alright? Do you need some assistance perhaps?”

The boy instantly whips his head up in surprise. Minhyung’s breath hitches. In all his years of living he had never seen a creature so beautiful. The boy was covered in honey-glazed skin that shimmered like stars underneath the moonlight. His tiny head was crowned by luscious ebony coloured locks and in the middle of his face sat two chocolate-brown orbs that were filled with life and excitement despite his obviously painful predicament.

“My goodness!” The boy chirps. “I didn’t think that I was going to be found tonight! Since it’s late I had already accepted my fate to wait here until sunrise and pray that someone just as foolish as I would stumble upon this area. N-not that I’m calling _you_ foolish-I just mean that- well- oh never mind. I apologise, I’m not always this senseless. Perhaps it’s because of the crushed bone in my foot but it is hard to say.”

Minhyung can’t help but smile. He’s amazed at the other’s ability to crack a joke even in a dire situation like this. “Would you believe me if I told you that you are not the first person to have called me foolish tonight?”

The boy giggled. “Like minds always have a way of finding each other I suppose. Look, I don’t wish to inconvenience you but it _would_ be quite the save if you went back to the town and rounded up some men to lift this horrendous tree branch off of me. I would forever be in your debt.”

Now, of course Minhyung would have helped the boy even without the promise of retribution but the idea of having someone this stunning owe him something was _quite_ tempting. “Not a necessity. I can lift it myself.”

“What? No, you will hurt yourself. This is a very heavy piece of wood, ask my broken foot.”

Minhyung ignores the boy’s warnings as he places both hands on the fallen branch. He picks it up with ease and flings across the clearing to the amazement of the other boy.

“That was incredible! You must be a soldier to be able to do something like that!”

“Not a soldier, just a traveller.” Minhyung says proudly.

“Well, traveller what may I call you?”

Minhyung hesitates. As a rule, he and Dongyoung rarely gave out their real names to humans. It was one of the many tricks that they had learned over the years to help them live in anonymity. But there was something about the twinkle in this boy’s eyes when he looked at him that made Minhyung lose all sense of control.

“Minhyung.” He hears himself say.

“Minhyung.” God, he has never heard his name sound as beautiful as it does when it comes out this angel’s mouth. “That is a good name. My name is Donghyuck.”

_“_ Donghyuck.” The name rolls off his tongue so comfortably and naturally it was almost as if his tongue had been waiting its entire life just to say this one name. Minhyung thinks he might have just found his new favourite word of all time.

Minhyung watches as Donghyuck slowly tries to pick himself up. He nearly stumbles but Minhyung is there to catch him in milliseconds.

Donghyuck laughs nervously. “I think I might have bumped my head when I fell. For a second it seemed like you teleported here.”

Minhyung stays silent, unsure of what to say as Donghyuck continues to wobble in his arms.

“Well, thank you for your help Minhyung. Do you know if you will be in this area again anytime soon? I would love to compensate you for your troubles. Right now all I have is this bag of herbs and unfortunately I am already using them for something else. Unless you really want them?”

“No, I have no use for herbs. I don’t need anything from you, I am more concerned about your leg. You don’t seem like you are able to walk.” Minhyung states with a frown on his face.

“Oh don’t worry about me, I’m fine. Look!” Donghyuck pushes himself away from Minhyung and attempts to take a step forward but once again ends up being saved by the vampire as he nearly hits the ground. “Or not.”

“How far do you live from here?” Minhyung asks, concern written on his face.

Donghyuck clears his throat. “About an hour or so.”

Minhyung gazes up at the night sky. It was going to be dawn soon from the looks of it. If he walked Donghyuck back to his house now he would probably just miss the sun in the nick of time. That would mean that he wouldn’t get a chance to find the doctor’s house and make his way back home tonight.

Minhyung looks down and sees Donghyuck’s tired but warm eyes and gentle smile and impulsively makes a decision. “Climb on my back. I shall carry you home.”

A blush forms on Donghyuck’s face. “You don’t have to go that far.”

“Just do it. I am stronger than I look. Carrying someone of your size will feel like a flower petal resting on my shoulder. It’s too dangerous for you to walk through these woods alone with your foot in that condition.”

Donghyuck shyly casts his eyes to the ground. “Well if you insist. I can’t say that I need much persuading when the offer is to be carried by a handsome stranger like yourself.”

Minhyung awkwardly clears his throat and crouches down to allow the other to hop onto his back. Once Minhyung had ensured that Donghyuck was safely secured he begins to walk slowly, not wanting to cause the boy any further discomfort.

“Where do I go from here?” Minhyung questions.

“Just continue on this path straight ahead. Once you reach the bush filled with many white roses you need to start walking north east and you will eventually end up at my house. I live in a desolated area so you will know it when you see it.” Donghyuck instructs.

“I see. Well we have a long journey ahead so rest yourself. It’s late and I’m sure you must be exhausted.”

“Thank you.” Donghyuck mumbles into Minhyung’s shoulder. Within a few minutes he is asleep and Minhyung does his best to not jostle him around too much. For some reason Minhyung doesn’t mind the silence, he finds himself content with simply just being in the boy’s presence. From their close proximity he could feel Donghyuck’s heartbeat and soft breathing. His sweet scent was overwhelmingly intoxicating but Minhyung would be damned if he ever allowed himself to hurt this precious boy.

Minhyung should probably find his sudden obsession with Donghyuck alarming, after all he has never felt such a strong connection to someone before other than Dongyoung, but instead he finds himself smiling at the way the younger’s hair tickles his neck and for the first time in his vampire life, Minhyung thinks that there’s something worth living for.

He continues down the path as per Donghyuck’s instructions and eventually makes it to the rose flower bush. He remembers to slightly change his direction and not along after that he spots an old cottage that was a reddish shade of brown in the distance. He makes his way down the pathway before stopping a few steps away from the house. He gently places Donghyuck on the ground which in turn causes the younger to stir in his sleep.

“Wake up sleepyhead, we’re here.” Minhyung whispers softly while ruffling Donghyuck’s hair.

Donghyuck opens his bleary eyes and blinks rapidly in attempt to wake himself up. He holds his arms out in the air and allows for Minhyung to help him get up.

“Well that trip went by faster than usual.” Donghyuck comments with a yawn.

“I wonder why.” Minhyung teases.

Donghyuck immediately blushes and looks down at his feet. “Thank you for your help tonight Minhyung. I don’t what would have happened to me if you hadn’t shown up but I’m incredibly grateful that you did. You’ve shown me more kindness tonight than I think anyone has in my entire life.”

Minhyung frowns. Who could possibly take one look at this magnificent human and _not_ want to give their life up for him? It was baffling. “You’re very welcome, Donghyuck. I wouldn’t mind doing it all again for someone as exquisite as you.”

Donghyuck giggles shyly and turns himself away to hobble his way to the door. “If you’d wait out here I believe I’ve got some silver pieces inside. It’s the least that I could do to repay you for what you’ve done for me tonight.”

Minhyung vehemently shakes his head. “Please, no. I have a sufficient amount of money. I don’t wish to make your life more difficult.”

“Then at least some supplies for your journey? Please Minhyung let me do _something_ for you or else I will regret it for the rest of my life.”

Minhyung lifts his head towards the heavens. The sun was barely peeking out from the night clouds but he could already feel the effects of its vicious rays bleeding onto his skin. He knew that unless he wanted to burst into flames he needed to find shelter - and fast. He has to say the idea of spending the day with the pretty boy in front of him sounded a lot more appealing than spending it buried in the ground praying that he doesn’t get bitten by a mole again.

“Well perhaps there is _one_ thing…” Minhyung begins, averting his gaze back to Donghyuck.

“Anything.” Donghyuck says confidently.

“Lodging. I am what you would say _nocturnal_ you see. Let’s just say that I’m allergic to the sun and it is imperative that I shield myself from it.”

Minhyung watches in confusion as the colour drains from Donghyuck’s face. His whole body starts to tremble and for a second, Minhyung worries that the boy might faint.

“I-I’m terribly sorry but you can’t.” Donghyuck stammers out fearfully.

“Are you alright? You’re shaking, Donghyuck.” Minhyung says as he places a steady hand onto his shoulders. Donghyuck immediately slithers out of his grasp and turns to face the wall.

“I’m fine. Look, you can have anything you want but just not _that._ I cannot invite you into my home Minhyung. Please understand that if I could, I most certainly would.”

“What’s stopping you then? Do you-do you not enjoy my company?” Minhyung asks sadly, a lump forming in his throat.

Donghyuck instantly turns his head back to face Minhyung again. “What? No! Of course not. I know that we’ve only known each for a short while and that I was conscious for only half of that time but I promise you my handsome stranger, being in your company has been the happiest that I’ve been in months. My eyes have witnessed a great amount of tragedy recently so seeing your face tonight has been like finding a rose in a field of weeds.”

Minhyung sighs in relief and straightens his back. “That’s a relief. I apologise if this makes you uncomfortable but in all my travels I have never come across a more beautiful creature than yourself. I barely know you but I already can’t seem to keep you off my mind. I suppose it was selfish of me to force you to let me stay by your side for just one more day but I can’t seem to think logically when I’m around you.” Minhyung pauses before adding. “You must probably think that I’m out of my mind.”

Donghyuck smiles wistfully and cups one of Minhyung’s cheeks with his hand. “I do not. I have similar feelings as a matter of fact and I am very grateful to have met you. I will cherish the memory of tonight for an eternity.”

Minhyung closes his eyes and takes a deep breath of Donghyuck’s addictive scent so that he can remember it for as long as he can. “Then I must be on my way then. Since I’m not going to stay here tonight do you mind telling me what it is that’s keeping you from inviting me in?”

Donghyuck anxiously bites his lip. “Because you are strong and more importantly, healthy. I could never live with myself if I ever took those things away from you.”

Minhyung snaps his eyes open and gasps. He removes Donghyuck’s hand from his face and sprints towards the door to place his ear onto the wood. Donghyuck, still crippled, simply drops to his knees in defeat as he watches Minhyung discover his darkest secret.

“It’s you.” Minhyung breathes out in amazement. “You’re the doctor. You’re the one who’s been secretly housing all the sick patients from the village. That’s why you were out gathering herbs at that time of night, you didn’t want to be discovered by the other villagers in case they try to punish you for trying to save the infected!”

Donghyuck buries in head into his hands. “Please, let this be our secret. My father is the doctor, I merely help him out by gathering the ingredients to make medicine. He heard that there were some people being cured in the west so he left a few weeks ago to see if the rumours were true. If the other villagers knew that we were prolonging the lives of the contagiously ill they would have us hanged. Forgive me Minhyung for lying to you. I promise you that I am not infected but if you go inside I cannot stop the illness from invading your body. This horrible disease has already stolen my mother from me, I refuse for you to follow in her footsteps.”

“No, you don’t understand. I’ve spent the entire night trying to find this house. To think that _you_ were the person I was trying to find all along… it is certainly a sign from the gods.”

Donghyuck stares at Minhyung suspiciously. “Why were you looking for us? You’re clearly not sick. Oh my god, are you here to arrest me? This can’t be happening to me. I let myself walk into my own death all because of a beautiful boy. Oh my mother always used to tell me that love would be my greatest downfall, I cannot believe she was right. Well at least I can take comfort in knowing that I will be meeting her soon.”

Minhyung walks back to the front of Donghyuck and crouches down. “I don’t seem to recall you doing any walking.”

“That’s right.” Donghyuck laughs bitterly. “How foolish was I to think that someone this lovely could actually exist. This was your goal all along wasn’t it?”

Minhyung’s eyes soften. If only Donghyuck knew what his actual intentions were, he would be horrified. “No, it was not. I helped you because I could tell you have a beautiful soul. The reason why I was looking for this house is because I heard about your father from…a friend and well I thought that I could, uh, lend my assistance.”

Minhyung instantly feels guilty about lying to Donghyuck. He wants to tell him the truth but he knows that it will simply just make the other frightened of him and he couldn’t handle that reality.

Donghyuck narrows his eyes. “You’re lying. What sane person would willing put themselves at harms risk for no reward?”

“You and your father to start off with. Look Donghyuck, I will not get sick. My body is abnormal compared to other humans. I have been exposed to this disease before and nothing has ever happened to me because I am immune. Please, let me help you. At the very least let me stay here until your father returns. I have some medical knowledge that I have acquired over my many years of travelling. I hate to think of you putting your life at risk like this.”

Donghyuck frowns at Minhyung for a couple of seconds, seemingly deliberating something before sighing. “Alright. I’ll let you in but the moment my father returns you _will_ leave. The fact that you haven’t been affected by the disease thus far could still be a coincidence and I don’t wish to tempt fate.”

Minhyung leans over to help Donghyuck walk to the front door. He waits for Donghyuck to push it open and walks behind him as Donghyuck hops into the house. Once the door has been closed behind them, Minhyung is instantly hit by the scent of death. He could hear the sounds of coughing and faint crying and wonders how someone as bright as Donghyuck could possibly live in a house as dreary as this one.

“Where are the victims?” Minhyung asks, eyes darting curiously around the bare house.

“We keep them in the back, away from where my father and I usually sleep. We share a room actually so you’re going to have to sleep with me while you’re here.” Donghyuck says as he ties as piece of loose cloth around his foot.

If Minhyung had a heartbeat he was sure it would have picked up after hearing that statement. But unfortunately, Minhyung was a creature of the night which meant that he probably would never get a chance to fall asleep with Donghyuck at his side.

“Actually like I said earlier, I’m nocturnal.”

“Oh, right. Well luckily for you my bedroom doesn’t have any windows, here let me take you there.”

Minhyung silently follows Donghyuck to his bedroom. Once they are inside he notices a small bed near the edge of the room that looks barely big enough to fit two people. Minhyung secretly wonders if Donghyuck’s father is as frail-looking as he is.

“So I’ve got to go check up on the patients and start grinding those herbs for their medicine. Will you be alright in here?”

“Yes, I will. I wish I could help you with all of that but I really mean it when I say that I have to stay out of the sun. I promise you tonight I shall be a much greater assistance.” Minhyung apologises while grabbing Donghyuck’s hands.

“Don’t be ridiculous. This is _my_ repayment to you. Now make yourself comfortable because the sun will be up in a few minutes and I have to shut the door. Sweet dreams and good…morning?” Donghyuck tilts his head to the side with a cute pout of confusion on his face.

Minhyung laughs and gives Donghyuck’s hands a firm squeeze. “Good morning to you too. I look forward to seeing you again tonight.”

Donghyuck smiles shyly at Minhyung before hopping out of the room and closing the door behind him. Minhyung sighs and settles himself underneath the thin blanket. The walls surrounding him would prevent him from catching alight but it wasn’t the same as his sun-proof coffin. There’s still a slight tingle on his skin but it’s worth it to be in such close proximity to Donghyuck.

Minhyung wasn’t sure at what point he dozed off but sometime after that he suddenly finds himself awake. The tingling on his skin had stopped which probably meant it was night-time again. Minhyung lifts himself off the bed and walks towards the door. He carefully opens it and sighs with relief when he realises that it was safe to venture outside.

He exits the room and makes his way back to the living room where he discovers Donghyuck curled up in the corner of the room using nothing but what was most likely his father’s coat to keep him warm. Instantly feeling guilty, Minhyung hastily lifts Donghyuck into his arms and gently carries him back to his bed trying his best not to stir him from his slumber.

Once he ensures that Donghyuck is safely tucked into bed he decides to finally complete the mission his maker had dictated upon him and sneaks his way to the back of the house where the ill were housed.

Standing in front of the door that lead to his final stop, Minhyung finds himself hesitating to go through. He _knows_ he needs to do this and theoretically it shouldn’t be a problem since, despite what Donghyuck might believe, these humans were undoubtedly going to die but somehow just thinking about how terrified the victims must already be from the side-effects of their disease actually makes him feel even _worse_ about the horrendous crime he was about to commit. Swallowing painfully Minhyung turns his back to the door and flashes himself outside.

_If you don’t feed, you can’t go home._

The words of Minhyung’s maker ring loudly in his ears and as much as he would like to satisfy Dongyoung’s wishes, he simply just couldn’t bring himself to do it. Besides, he still has a few more days with Donghyuck until the latter’s father comes back home so Minhyung still has some time to stall before he even has to think about going home.

Closing his eyes, Minhyung tries to listen for any signs of life and grins when he hears the tell-tale sound of a deer. Judging from the sound of its hooves, it was mostly likely a stag which meant that it would be extra meaty. Animal blood wasn’t exactly ideal but it did its job in an emergency. Sure Minhyung would be a lot weaker than usual and he would be required to feed more frequently than if he drank human blood but at least the throbbing in his head would stop and the muscles in his body would stop burning.

Most importantly, he would be able to control his hunger around Donghyuck.

After spending about two hours on the hunt, Minhyung finally returns to the cottage feeling _somewhat_ sated when he notices a distraught-looking Donghyuck waiting for him on the grassy area in front of the door.

“You’re back.” Donghyuck breathes out, clearly sounding relieved.

“I didn’t really leave.” Minhyung responds as he leans forward to assist Donghyuck in standing up.

“No, I’m alright. I rubbed some herbs on my foot during the day and I think it’s starting to kick in.”

“I see.” Minhyung mutters softly.

“I was so worried when I woke up and you were gone. I-I thought that perhaps you’d changed your mind about staying with me…”

Minhyung smiles and softly cups Donghyuck’s cheek. “Never. I will only leave when you ask me to. I just needed to clear my head for a little while.”

“I get like that too sometimes. Being in this house of mine can be difficult at times which is why I always used to look forward to those days where I had to gather ingredients. Unfortunately though without my father here it means that I don’t get to leave the house as much.” Donghyuck pauses to place his own hand over Minhyung’s. “But with you here I felt more at ease. Actually before I fell asleep earlier on I felt kind of excited knowing that once I woke up you would be waiting for me.”

“And then you saw that I was gone and you panicked.” Minhyung chuckles. “Well I’ll promise you now, as long as you exist, I will be here for you.”

Donghyuck beams brightly and for the first time in centuries Minhyung finally remembers what it feels like to stand in the sun.

Over the next few days Minhyung and Donghyuck fell into a pattern. Donghyuck would continue with his regular chores and duties during the daytime while Minhyung slept and in turn in the evenings when Donghyuck was napping Minhyung would check up on the patients and give them their night time dosage of medication. (He also occasionally went deer-hunting too but Donghyuck didn’t know that.)

Donghyuck generally woke up from his naps at around 11pm which meant that he and Minhyung often spent the rest of the night talking until sun came up. Donghyuck didn’t seem to suspect anything about Minhyung or if he did, he certainly didn’t make it obvious that he did which allowed Minhyung to feel more comfortable around the human than he had with _anyone_ for the past four hundred years. They’d built up a little life for themselves and if Minhyung let himself believe for a minute he could really convince himself that they were a real family.

Speaking of real family it had been a couple of weeks since Minhyung had arrived and he still had no idea when Donghyuck’s father was due to come home. He didn’t really want to push the issue with Donghyuck because he could tell how wistful the younger one got whenever he spoke of his family but he did get the sense that Donghyuck himself wasn’t really sure of when his father’s return would be either.

On one particular evening, Minhyung and Donghyuck had just returned from burying the body of one their patients. Unfortunately Donghyuck’s efforts were not enough to stop this horrifying disease from claiming his patients and even Minhyung himself was at a loss at what to do. He tried to sneak one of the patients some of his blood once but it failed to improve the patient’s condition and if anything Minhyung would say it actually _sped_ up the poor man’s dying process.

On nights like these Donghyuck didn’t really say much, opting to silently lean his head onto Minhyung’s shoulder instead as they sat on a nearby hilltop that overlooked Donghyuck’s house and its surrounding area. Minhyung knew better than to try and start a conversation with the other when he was in this kind of emotional state but he didn’t really mind. Being near Donghyuck always had a soothing effect on his soul regardless of whether or not the other was speaking.

“Oh my goodness.” Donghyuck suddenly exclaims as he rushes to stand up.

“What is it?” Minhyung questions.

“It’s my father’s wagon. Look!”

Minhyung casts his gaze to where Donghyuck is pointing and sure enough he spots a brown object in the distance slowly making its way towards the cottage.

“Come on, we have to go back home to meet him!”

Minhyung instantly feels his stomach drop as he allows Donghyuck to enthusiastically drag him down the hill back towards the house. Now that Donghyuck’s father was back what was going to happen to them?

Once they are back in the house Donghyuck starts to fly around the living room in a desperate attempt to clean it up. Minhyung isn’t exactly sure what there is to clean up in the first place given how few objects Donghyuck actually owned but regardless he still makes sure to assist Donghyuck in whatever activity he was partaking in. After a couple of minutes the house is immaculate and Minhyung can’t help but smile affectionately at Donghyuck as he proudly beams at his work.

“Let’s go wait outside.” Donghyuck suggests excitedly.

The two wait outside for about fifteen minutes before the wagon is finally in clear sight. Minhyung tries to get a better look at Donghyuck’s father and is quite surprised when he notices how _young_ the man is. He looks over to Donghyuck to see if he saw the same thing and immediately notices the pained expression on the younger boy’s face.

“What’s wrong?” Minhyung questions.

“That’s not my father.”

“Well that clarifies that. I was just thinking that that gentleman is far too young to have a son as old as you. I mean, obviously you’re not _old_ but”-

“His name is Jungwoo. He’s only two years older than me and he’s my father’s assistant. Why does he have my father’s wagon? My father would never allow him to travel all the way back here on his own.”

Minhyung gets a sinking feeling in his chest and judging by how hard Donghyuck suddenly squeezes his hand he’s pretty sure that he feels the same thing.

After a few minutes Minhyung leaves Donghyuck at the cottage to catch up to Jungwoo and help him to pull the wagon. The lanky teen seems surprised at first when he initially spots Minhyung but gets over it in a couple of seconds and silently allows Minhyung to drag the wagon for him, probably exhausted from his long journey.

Not long after that they finally arrive at the cottage where Donghyuck is waiting for them with his arms folded and an unreadable expression on his face.

“Jungwoo-hyung. I hope your journey went well.” Donghyuck greets emotionlessly.

Jungwoo instantly drops his gaze to the floor. “Yes, I brought back new herbs from the west. They said that it can extend your lifespan by about two weeks if you apply it as soon as you are infected. I witnessed it in action with my own eyes and it truly is remarkable.”

“I see. Well that’s a relief. We’ve lost quite a few patients in the weeks that you and Father have been gone so we’re in desperate need for a new treatment.”

Jungwoo nods his head and remains silent. An awkward silence hangs in the air and Minhyung briefly wonders if he should break it but quickly decides against it when he notices the trembling of Donghyuck’s fingers.

“Jungwoo-hyung. Where is my father?” Donghyuck finally asks with a dull look in his eyes.

Jungwoo bites his bottom lip nervously and Minhyung can hear his heartbeat suddenly pick up. “Hyuckie, don’t make me say it. You should have already guessed by the time you saw me pulling this wagon by myself.”

“No, I want to hear what you have to say. I refuse to jump to any conclusions.” Donghyuck replies stubbornly, his voice sounding thick.

Jungwoo closes his eyes as a tear droplet rolls down his cheek. “We travelled from city to city, desperately trying to find a cure to this terrifying disease. Right as we were about to give up we got a tip that there was a cure in a village hidden deep within the mountains. We travelled for a fortnight through the frigid snow and rough terrains, not even knowing if what we were searching for even existed, but finally after what felt like a lifetime we made it and we were thankfully able to obtain the herbs I talked about before.” 

Jungwoo stops to take a deep breath before he continues. “B-but by the time we arrived it was too late. Your father h-he was already infected. The thing about the herbs is that you have to apply them as soon as you are infected but we didn’t get there in time. Your father was already too far along. I’m so sorry Hyuckie, I truly am, but your father…he’s no longer with us.”

The silence that follows is deafeningly loud. Minhyung doesn’t even dare to breathe as he tries to gauge Donghyuck’s reaction. Donghyuck is completely still and his face utterly blank but somehow Minhyung immediately sees the tremendous pain visible in his eyes.

Without warning, Donghyuck suddenly falls to his knees and begins to openly weep. It breaks Minhyung’s heart to see his sunlight dimmer like this so he crouches down and places his arm around the younger boy’s shoulder in an attempt to relax him.

Donghyuck responds by throwing himself into Minhyung’s embrace and sobbing loudly into Minhyung’s chest. Unsure of what else to do, Minhyung simply tightens his hold on Donghyuck while simultaneously rubbing soft circles onto his back.

After a few moments Donghyuck lifts his head up to stare mournfully into Minhyung’s eyes.

“Please don’t leave me.” He chokes out painfully.

So Minhyung stays.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed that! I know it's a little unconventional to have an entire chapter be a flashback but I just felt like Minhyung and Donghyuck's love story was too epic to be untold! Each alternate chapter I think for now will be a flashback so the next chapter will continue from chapter 1!


	3. III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the delay for this chapter but I was away for the past couple of days and to be honest I was kind of struggling with this chapter so I kept putting it off...But I've decided to just upload it as it is so that I can move on and continue with the rest of the story because I don't want to drag this on forever and never complete this fic!! Please note that there's quite a bit of important information that's revealed that I might not necessarily explain again so please read carefully! As always, enjoy!!!

**Year 2018**

“Mark?” Haechan calls out numbly.

“Yeah?” Mark replies distractedly as his eyes focus on the red liquid still trickling down his trembling hands.

“I think it’s time you told me who the fuck you are.”

Mark turns his head slowly and stares at Haechan vacantly, clearly too shocked to even speak.

“Okay. Let me start this off then by asking, what in the actual fuck _are_ you?” Haechan asks, his pupils pulsating.

Mark looks to his left where the remains of Cheeseburger Dude lay and then back to Haechan. “We should, um, we should get out of here before someone finds us.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“Haechan, please. If someone sees us here surrounded by all this _gore”-_

“Then I’ll tell them the truth! That _you_ ripped out this guy’s heart like it was no big deal!”

“It _is_ a big deal!” Mark suddenly snaps, finally getting angry for the first time since he and Haechan met. “I just _killed_ someone for the first time in…years, fuck. I-I can’t handle this right now and being here, looking at this lifeless shell, well it’s freaking me out just as much as it’s freaking you.”

“Years? Jesus, what the shit? Is this like a normal occurrence for you or something? I’m not going _anywhere_ until you tell me A, what you are and why your eyes do that freaky glowing thing and B, who you really are.” Haechan demands stubbornly, folding his arms defiantly.

“Haechan, I swear, I have a lot of patience but right now you’re really testing me. Just get the fuck up and let’s go to the dessert place like we were supposed to. Once we’re there I promise I’ll explain everything.”

“Oh and I’m just supposed to trust you? After all you’ve done to me since we met is _lie_? For all I know you could me leading me to some creepy abandoned warehouse to kill me and sell my organs on the black market!”

Mark’s face instantly drops. “A-are you really afraid of me? Do you actually think I would hurt you?”

Haechan shrugs his shoulders and stares at Mark expectantly.

Mark visibly swallows. “Fine. If you want to know so badly then here it is, vampire. I’m a vampire. My eyes glow red whenever I see blood because _I’m a vampire._ My name is Lee Minhyung but times have changed so these days I prefer Mark Lee. I’ve answered all of your questions so now can we please, _get the fuck out of here?”_

Haechan stares at Mark in horror. Did he just say _vampire?_ As in Dracula? As in _Edward fucking Cullen?_ Haechan waits. He waits for Mark to laugh, to say ‘Gotcha!’ or to say _anything_ really to indicate that he isn’t being serious but he doesn’t.

Haechan looks over at Cheeseburger Dude’s mangled body and back over to urgent expression on Mark’s face before he finally, and rather reluctantly, nods his head. He sluggishly lifts himself off the ground, pointedly ignores Mark’s outstretched hand, and gingerly dusts himself off. He doesn’t really know how to handle this news. There’s only two options really, either Mark is _completely_ insane and _actually_ believes that he’s a vampire or…he really is a vampire.

Either way Haechan knows that he isn’t going to get the answer until he agrees to Mark’s conditions and for some absolutely _irrational_ reason he could still sense that Mark isn’t going harm him which is why he agreed to follow him to the dessert place.

On their way to the shop they briefly stop at an empty gas station to allow Mark to clean himself up before they finally arrive at their destination. Throughout their trip Haechan doesn’t dare to breathe a word while Mark appears to echo Haechan’s sentiments.

Once they enter the store Haechan is immediately mesmerised by the tiny shop’s meticulous architecture. There isn’t much space but it’s obvious that someone clearly spent a lot of time and effort into coming up with the shop’s intricate design and layout. The shop’s pristine marble floors and wide array of glittering chandeliers genuinely makes Haechan feel like he’s standing in an 18th century palace.

“Mark.” Haechan turns his head to the source of the sound and finally notices a young girl standing behind the front counter of the shop. She’s every bit as exquisite as the shop itself with not a single strand of her ebony-coloured hair out of place and perfectly applied makeup that makes Haechan wonder if she’s had it professionally done. Even though Haechan has always known that he was a sausage man from the time he was five years old even _he_ had to admit that the luxurious woman in front of him was making his knees tremble.

(Or maybe it was because of the way Mark instinctively throws his arm around Haechan’s shoulder upon hearing the female’s voice but he can’t really be sure.) 

“Joy.” Mark greets back. “Is Wendy here?”

“No, she’s out feed”-Joy suddenly stops herself and glances quickly towards Haechan -“ing her fish. They haven’t eaten in _days_ so she asked me to hold down the shop while she…fed them.”

“I see. Well Joy this is Haechan, Haechan this is Joy. She’s an associate of my close friend Wendy, the owner of this shop. Is there anything you would like to order from Joy before we sit down?” Mark asks, finally looking into Haechan’s eyes.

“N-no. I’m not really hungry.” Haechan mumbles softly, nervously staring down at his shoes.

“Are you sure? You haven’t eaten since we left the diner.” Mark questions, furrowing his eyebrows.

Under a different set of circumstances Haechan would probably be in cloud nine from all the attention Mark was paying him but instead he finds himself unable to shake the memory of Cheeseburger Dude’s death out of his head. Even if he manages to for a split second, it’s replaced with the image of glowing crimson eyes and the haunting audio of Mark’s voice saying ‘vampire.’

Haechan wants to cry and he doesn’t even think that a delicious cake is going to help him.

“I’m fine. Can we just sit down? My legs hurt from all the running.”

Joy raises her perfectly shaped left eyebrow which prompts Mark to urgently shake his head.

“If you change your mind you know where to find me.” Joy eventually states coolly, returning her eyes back to her smartphone.

“Thanks.” Mark replies as he starts to gently steer Haechan towards a table at the back of the shop. Once they are seated across from each other a silence is created as neither one knows how to begin their difficult conversation.

“So,” Haechan starts after a couple of minutes. “Can you turn into a bat?”

Mark nearly drops his jaw. “Are you serious? Of all the things in the world you could ask, _that’s_ what you want to know?”

“Can you or can you not turn into a fucking bat? If you’re just going to spend the rest of the evening lying to me then I may as well go home right now!”

Mark sighs exasperatedly. “ _No._ I cannot turn into a bat. Happy?”

“Do you show up in mirrors and photographs?”

“Yes and yes.”

“If I threw holy water on you what would happen?”

“I’d be wet.”

“Sunlight?”

“Deathly allergic.”

“Wooden stakes?”

“Also, deathly allergic.”

“Okay, here’s an important one.” Haechan pauses and inhales sharply. “If I wore a garlic garland around you what would you do?”

Mark fights back the urge to smile. “I’d be pretty annoyed. My sense of smell is a lot stronger than yours so the stench would be quite…pungent.”

Haechan slightly relaxes and leans back into his chair. “I guess that answers most of my questions for now. Although I suppose I should ask about your… _diet_.”

Mark immediately tenses up. “Look, I generally try not to hurt people…but I’m not perfect. For a long time I was on an animal-only diet but it’s _extremely_ difficult to maintain. Thankfully there’s blood bags these days that can be easily stolen from hospitals. It allows us to stay much more inconspicuous than before.”

Haechan slowly nods his head. He should probably be more disturbed by that information but he can sense from the sincerity in Mark’s voice that he’s being genuine about not wanting to harm people so he figures that he’ll let it go for now.

“So are you like, super old or something?”

Mark awkwardly clears his throat. “Not to make you uncomfortable or anything but I was born in the tenth century.”

Haechan whistles. Well that explains why he was so initially attracted to him.

“Nah, age gaps are cool with me. _Very_ cool actually…”

Mark examines his palms, suddenly too afraid to look Haechan in the eyes. “Is it alright if I ask you something now?”

Haechan whips his head up in surprise. “Um. Sure?”

“Earlier, you were concerned about being alone with me. You thought that I would hurt you. By killing that man in the tracksuit, have I turned you against me? Are you afraid of me now that you’ve seen what I’m capable of?”

Haechan sucks in his cheeks and deliberates over Mark’s question. _Is_ he afraid of him?

“No.” Haechan admits out loud.

Mark finally raises his gaze to look into Haechan’s eyes. “Really?”

“Really. I said that stuff because, well, you kind of _did_ murder someone in front of me but…you protected me. If you hadn’t stepped in when you did who knows what could have happened? Maybe I wouldn’t be here having this conversation with you.” Haechan stops to take a breath before he continues. “Call me selfish but I kind of _like_ being alive and if that guy was willing to take my life away from me just because someone told him to, well then maybe he didn’t deserve to live.”

“A controversial way of thinking.” Mark muses.

“Controversial is my middle name.” Haechan jokes. “Just kidding. I don’t have one.”

“Neither do I.” Marks says, softening his eyes.

Haechan swallows and pulls on a loose thread. “Another reason why I still kind of trust you is that I saw your face right after. You were totally shaken up. Maybe I’m just jumping to conclusions but…I don’t think you’re a violent person by nature.”

“No, you were right earlier on to tell me to stay away from you. You haven’t seen me at my lowest.” Mark mutters bitterly.

“Is that a bad thing? I’ve seen who you are now and isn’t that all that matters? Look, you can’t tell me that you don’t feel this too. We have a connection, I don’t understand why but I just feel this magnetic pull towards you. Even after everything that’s happened between us I still want to get to know you. That’s not normal, right?”

Mark doesn’t respond but Haechan doesn’t miss the grimaced expression that forms on his face.

“Also I’m not an idiot. You come to my diner every single night, even though you don’t even eat human food, and out of all the seats available you manage to always sit in _my_ section? Let’s not act like that’s just some random coincidence. Plus, you can’t just abandon me now, you heard what that guy said right? Someone is trying to kill me. For all I know they’ve already sent out their next goon to finish off the job.”

“That’s true.” Mark finally says, nervously biting his lip. “Okay, from now on I’ll be walking you home after your shift at the diner. You should be safe during the day time because if they sent a vampire the first time there’s no reason to think they wouldn’t the second but just to be certain I’ll compel some officers at the police station to patrol your campus while you’re in class.”

“Compel?”

“Right. Vampires can ‘compel’ humans. It’s basically like hypnotising them. Don’t worry, I’ve never used it on you but I can’t be sure that another vampire won’t try to. To avoid being compelled get yourself a silver necklace or bracelet and keep it on you all the time.” Mark advises seriously.

“Because silver is..?”

“Deadly to a vampire. It burns our skin and if you wear a piece of silver jewellery anywhere on your body it’ll prevent you from falling under someone’s compulsion.”

Haechan rhythmically taps his finger onto the table. “Why are you telling me all of your weaknesses? Aren’t you worried that _I’ll_ hurt you?”

“Because if there really is a threat out there then you need to know how to defend yourself, even if that means putting myself at risk.” Mark says in a matter of fact tone.

“That’s pretty intense. We barely know each other and yet you’re placing your life in my hands.” Haechan comments with a raised eyebrow.

Mark stares at Haechan with an unreadable expression on his face for a few seconds before he eventually looks away. “I know you better than you think. I know you wouldn’t ever use this information against me unless it was truly necessary.” Mark pauses to take a shaky breath before he apprehensively continues. “Also…you remind me of someone I knew a long, long time ago. I couldn’t protect him but maybe…maybe I can protect you.”

Haechan doesn’t really know what to do what that information. Does this person have anything to do with why he’s so drawn to Mark? He wants to ask Mark for more details but judging from the anguished look on his face at the moment Haechan is guessing that it might not be the greatest time.

“Look, I don’t have any more questions for you. I think I need to go home and just _process_ everything, I mean it’s been one hell of a night.”

“I’m sorry.” Mark replies, sounding genuinely apologetic.

“Thanks. Before we go I just have to use the restroom. I nearly wet myself earlier when Cheeseburger Dude jumped me and I’ve been holding it in ever since.” Haechan declares while getting up.

“Why didn’t you go when we were at the gas station?” Mark chides.

“Because I have standards.” Haechan teases as he bounces off in the direction of the bathroom.

Mark sighs and buries his face into his hands. Haechan was definitely one-of a-kind. He’s quite grateful though that the younger seemed to be quite open-minded, he was concerned that he wasn’t going to be able to cope with the whole vampire business. Mark doesn’t really know why he’s surprised given that he was once met with a similarly receptive reaction nearly seven hundred years ago.

Mark mentally slaps himself. They’re not the same. They may look alike but one conversation with Haechan immediately told Mark that they are _two_ separate people and that trying to compare them to each other is madness. Haechan is Haechan and Dong-

Suddenly sensing a dark presence looming over him, Mark quickly turns his head and finally notices Joy towering over him with a thunderous expression on her face.

“What was I just listening to?” She spits out sharply.

“I should have known that you were eavesdropping.” Marks responds with a bitter smile.

“You come into _my_ territory and spill the secrets of _my_ race to some low-class human? What the fuck were you thinking?”

“I’m almost eight hundred years older than you. I don’t really owe you an explanation for my actions.” Mark states calmly.

Joy sighs and looks at Mark with pity. “Mark, we’ve all heard the stories from your maker. You fell in love with a human once and it _broke_ you. You may not be a part of my coven but you’re my maker’s oldest friend and it would _kill_ her to see you making the same mistake again.”

Mark shamefully turns away from Joy’s penetrating glare and swallows uncomfortably. “I know. But that’s why she’ll never find out.”

“Are you serious? You can’t actually expect me to keep this a secret from Wendy-Unnie.” Joy replies with a flabbergasted expression on her face.

“Oh yes I do because if Wendy ever finds out the truth about Haechan then she’s also going to find out the truth about that time you lost Yeri _three days_ after she’d been turned. If I hadn’t shown up to help you find her who knows what could have happened to her!”

Joy takes an offended step backwards. “You wouldn’t dare! You know how difficult it is to control baby vampires! Yeri especially so!”

“I _do_ know and that’s how serious I am about Haechan. Now, do we have a deal?” Mark offers, extending his arm forward.

Joy scrunches her face and reluctantly shakes Mark’s hand. “I think you’re making a huge mistake. Also what are you going to do when the Vampire Defence Council finds out that you killed another vampire? You know that that’s punishable by death right?”

“You were turned in the 1700’s, correct? No wonder you’re so worried about something like the VDC. They’re just a bunch of hooligans dressed in expensive clothing pretending to have the best interests of the vampire race on their minds when in reality all they do is exercise their power to better their own lives. Trust me Joy, the world was a far kinder place before those thugs rose to power.” Mark scoffs.

“That may be so but that doesn’t change the fact that they rule the vampire world with an iron fist now. I know you’re considered to be one of the most powerful vampires in the world but even _you_ wouldn’t stand a chance against all of them. Just be careful okay? Wendy-Unnie and the rest of our coven would be pretty devastated if something happened to you.”

Mark smiles gently and reaches over to pat Joy’s forearm. “I appreciate your concern.”

They both perk at the sound of the bathroom door opening. Mark softly nods his head at Joy who responds by giving him a sympathetic headshake. She instantly flashes herself back to the front of the store, missing Haechan by seconds as he makes his return to the table.

“Let’s go. I’m tired and I still need to have my mandatory ‘oh my god vampires are real’ breakdown when I get home.” Haechan announces as he stretches out his arms.

Marks stands up and allows Haechan to lead them to the entrance of the shop. He chooses to ignore Joy’s sullen expression at the front counter and follows Haechan to the bustling street outside. They walk back to Haechan’s home in silence but it’s a much more comfortable silence than their previous tense one on the way to the dessert shop.

Once they reach the house Haechan bids Mark an awkward goodnight before he finally walks through the front door. Mark makes sure to wait at least fifteen minutes after the door has closed before he flashes away into the darkness. 

Finding himself at the abandoned park once again he quickly moves to the area where the remainder of ‘Cheeseburger Dude’ should be. Once he’s there he tries to scan his eyes throughout the area but makes a distressing discovery.

There was nothing there.

Mark quickly investigates the surrounding area. Is he in the right spot? He was so sure that this is where he found Haechan and the man in the tracksuit earlier on. He looks to his right and notices a bush of plush-pink azaleas, something he remembers seeing the first time too. No, this is _definitely_ the same place.

He crouches down to examine the grass closely and notes that the blades of grass didn’t even have a speck of blood on them. If a regular human, hell even a regular _vampire_ , came and saw what Mark was looking at they would never have guessed that there was ever a crime there.

Mark is incredibly perturbed by this revelation. He narrows his eyes and tries to concentrate. It couldn’t have been humans or else there would have been cops and investigators swarming the entire area which left him with only one explanation.

The VDC.

The next evening at the diner Mark shows up at 19:45. Haechan immediately feels his heartbeat pick up as he watches Mark slide into his favourite booth. For a minute Haechan wasn’t sure if he dreamt the events that had transpired last night but seeing Mark again up close suddenly brings up the cluster of emotions that’s been trying to push down the entire night.

Haechan had already placed order about twenty minutes ago and which meant that it was ready to go. He excitedly places the plate onto his tray and grins devilishly as he approaches Mark’s booth.

“Hey. I pre-placed your order for you so it would be ready as soon as you got here.”

“Thanks. That was thought”- Mark’s face suddenly falters.

“Garlic bread? Really?” He mutters through clenched teeth.

“I had to check if you were lying!” Haechan exclaims defensively

Mark sighs and shakes his head. “You’re ridiculous, you know that? Anyway, how are you feeling about all that stuff that happened last night?”

Haechan shrugs his shoulders. “It’s pretty scary knowing that someone’s out there trying to kill me but I don’t know, it also kind of makes me feel important? Like my whole life I’ve just always been ‘that guy over there’ but now I’m being actively sought after. It’s kind of… _exhilarating_.”

Mark purses his lips. “This isn’t something to romanticise, it’s really serious. We have absolutely no idea who’s behind all of this and I’ve had some…setbacks during my investigation.”

“I know, I know. But in a world where _vampires_ of all things exist I have to focus on the positive aspects of my life. Also what do you mean by ‘setbacks’? I didn’t even know there was an investigation to begin with! Shouldn’t I be involved in stuff like that?!”

“Absolutely not, it’s too dangerous. Just, try not to worry too much about it okay? Focus on your studies and your friends and let me take care of the vampire stuff.” Mark advises earnestly.

“You say that but…whatever, who am I to argue with a thousand-year-old vampire? My shift is practically over so let me get changed so we can go home.” Haechan turns to move towards the back room when suddenly Mark calls out for him.

“Haechan, wait.”

Haechan turns back to face Mark. “Yeah?”

“Please...take the garlic bread away. Like I said yesterday, _extremely_ pungent.”

As per their arrangement Mark makes sure to walk Haechan home. Haechan tries to pass the time by shooting Mark a rapid number of questions like who the first vampire was and if he ever met Michael Jackson.

(He doesn’t know and no, but he’s been to a couple of his concerts.)

After he says something that Haechan, for some inexplicable reason, finds _hilarious,_ Mark feels something bubbling something inside of him when he hears the younger one’s hearty laugh for the first time and suddenly realises something daunting.

_They have the same laugh._

Mark quickly reminds himself that even if they had a couple of similarities, Donghyuck was his _soulmate_ while Haechan is simply a friend. A friend who he needs to protect and absolutely under _zero_ circumstances fall in love with.

They arrive back at Haechan’s place sooner than Mark hopes but Haechan doesn’t make any attempt to go inside and instead rocks on his feet nervously while whistling something that Mark vaguely recognises as a girl group song.

“What’s up?” He finally asks, raising his eyebrow.

Haechan’s face suddenly flushes as he refuses to meet Mark’s eyes. “Nothing, I just wanted to…thank you.”

“For?”

“Everything? Saving my life, walking me home every night and trying to figure out who’s after me…I mean, it’s a lot and I don’t really think there’s anyone in my life who’d do this much for me.” Haechan confesses bashfully.

Mark blinks. He’d gotten used to a confident and unapologetic Haechan, this side of him is _very_ new to him.

“You’re welcome?” Mark eventually replies.

“I know you said that it’s because I remind you of someone, and don’t worry I’m not gonna ask about him, but I just wanted to make sure that you knew how much this means to me. I’ve been told that I can be quite…irritating and people tend to have a short fuse with me but you don’t so, yeah.”

Mark is instantly flooded with guilt. It’s obvious that Haechan was developing feelings for him but he knew that they could never be. He had already envisioned what it would be like if he and Haechan got together (for scientific purposes) and he knew that it would be impossible for them to have a happy ending. 

“Anyway,” Haechan says, shaking his hair out his eyes. “I’ve got to go now. If I don’t get there in time my siblings are going to hog the bathroom and finish all the hot water. I’ll, uh, see you tomorrow?”

Mark nods and gives Haechan a tender smile and watches him disappear into his house. Much like yesterday, he waits until he’s sure they weren’t followed before he leaves to go back to his own apartment and come up with strategies to find out who was behind last night’s attack.

During his walk Mark makes a decision. Once Haechan’s life is no longer in danger, he’s going to leave town. He knew he was playing a dangerous game to begin with by visiting the diner every night but he couldn’t resist. When he saw Haechan for the first time with that form-fitting white tee and that stunningly bright smile of his, it was difficult to stay away.

But knowing that Haechan has a crush on him makes it even _more_ challenging to resist the urge to fall in love and Mark genuinely doesn’t trust himself around that enticing face of his.

It hurt even just thinking about it but he knew that it would be for the best. Mark already knew how this story would end. He’s lived through it before after all. He doesn’t want Haechan to suffer the way Donghyuck did and, quite frankly, Mark himself doesn’t think that he can survive that kind of trauma again if something were to happen to him.

As soon as his work here is done Mark is going to cut whatever’s budding between them by its wings, for both their sakes.

Mark is halfway home when he suddenly senses a presence trailing after him. He purposefully chose an apartment that was in a desolated area which meant that the street that he’s currently standing in is entirely void of people.

He decides that it’s better if his stalker doesn’t know that he’s onto them so he continues to walk as normal when suddenly, he finds himself being roughly pushed to the floor by an enormous force. He’s completely caught off-guard and initially tries to struggle back but starts to panic when he realises that whoever or _whatever_ is on top of him right now is _much_ stronger than him. 

Coming to the conclusion that he is completely overpowered, he reaches into his jacket pocket and hisses as he battles to pull out a silver metal cross. Once he manages to secure the object in between his fingers he immediately slams it into the attacker’s face which causes them to curse and stutter backwards.

Dropping the silver object like a hot potato, Mark instantly leaps forward in attempt to tackle the attacker when he suddenly halts in tracks upon noticing a familiar ruby ring located on the other person’s ring finger.

“Hyung?” Mark whispers, utterly stunned.

Upon hearing Mark’s call the attacker finally lifts his head up to reveal his identity.

“It’s been so long since I’ve seen my beloved progeny that I thought I’d give you a little surprise and test out your skills to make you’re still sharp. Never in a million years did I think you were going to _silver_ me. That’s pretty, as the humans are saying these days, _badass.”_

Mark runs forward and falls into his maker’s arms. “Doyoung-hyung! Why didn’t you tell me you were in Seoul?”

“It was an impromptu trip.” Doyoung says, enveloping his arms around the younger. He waits a beat before he shifts his tone to a much grimmer one. “My child, I wish I came here on a good note but unfortunately, that is not the case. I got a very unsettling call from Wendy’s progeny last night.”

Mark automatically stills in Doyoung’s arms before he eventually pushes himself back. “What did she say?”

Doyoung sighs and rubs the burnt cross-shaped mark on his cheek. “She told me that I needed to come here as soon as possible because you’re in deep trouble and you refuse to acknowledge it. She had a message for you by the way, ‘I can handle a little scolding from my maker but you can’t survive falling in love with another human.’ Care to explain what she meant by that?”

Mark shamefully closes his eyes. “The feeling of knowing that I’ve disappointed you hurts like no other. I’m sorry, hyung. Haechan and I…we’re not in love, he’s just a close friend of mine. There’s been a threat against his life recently so I’ve been staying in close proximity to him for his protection.”

Doyoung shakes his head displeasingly. “Since when do we go out of our ways to protect humans? I’ve known you for a millennium, I can tell when you’re lying. Whether you’re lying to me or to yourself remains a mystery but I can assure you that what you are feeling for this boy goes beyond simple _friendship_.”

Mark nervously chews on his bottom lip, unsure of how to alleviate his maker’s ire.

After a couple of moments of silence Doyoung eventually speaks up again. “As much as I want to lecture you on how foolishly you are acting, I have more troubling news I’m afraid. The girl also mentioned to me that you killed a vampire last night. I cannot even _begin_ to fathom why you would choose to do something that reckless, _knowing_ that the VDC is at the peak of their power but we’ll get into that later. I know someone on the council who’s a good friend of mine and according to him, the senior members of the VDC are aware of the murder that occurred last night but they’re still looking into who could be the suspect.”

Mark clicks his fingers. “I _knew_ it. When I got back to the murder scene last night everything was wiped clean. Whatever, if they want to kill me, I won’t stop them. While they’re busy trying to find out who the murderer is I’ll use that time to hunt down whoever is trying to hurt Haechan. Once I make sure that he’s safe, they can do whatever the hell they want to me.”

“If only it was that simple.” Doyoung exhales. “You see Min- _Mark,_ the vampire population is at an all-time low. It’s become the trend among ancient vampires to meet the sun recently as most of them have run out of reasons to live. Newer vampires are left without makers and are running around like headless chickens, making it easier for them to be by spotted by humans. The VDC is up to their necks trying to keep everything under wraps but with the way social media is growing the world is more informed than ever. It won’t be long until humans discover the truth and once that happens, there’ll be an all-out war between humans and vampires.”

“Well what does that have to do with me? I don’t care about human-vampire politics.” Mark questions.

“If there’s a war, _we’ll_ lose. Humans have always outnumbered vampires but the ratio has been steadily growing worse. The VDC is doing everything they can to convince vampires to pro-create but the responsibility of looking after a baby vampire is rather unappealing so most are ignoring the VDC’s pleas. Now how all of this concerns you is the fact that because of all of this, killing a vampire no longer has a death penalty.”

“What’s the punishment now then?” Mark asks, even though he’s already certain what Doyoung is going to say.

Doyoung sighs and places both of his hands onto Mark’s shoulders.

“You have to create a new vampire.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if it seemed like Haechan pulled a 180 when Mark told him he was a vampire but for the sake of the plot of my story, he has to be on board with the whole supernatural thing. Anyway, please leave a comment down below if you enjoy my writing! I read them all and I try to reply as quickly as possible. Everyone has been so encouraging so far, I actually wrote this chapter in half the amount of time than the other two!!


	4. IV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case I don't upload the next chapter in time I thought I should tell you guys that i'm taking part in MarkHyuckFest 2018! I wrote a long fic and i believe posting will be on the 21st of December. You'll find the fics here on ao3 under the MarkHyuck tag. I won't spoil it but i'll just say that my fest fic is a LOT cuter than this one hehe

**Year 1344**

Minhyung grunts as he drops the heavy rock onto the ground. He and Donghyuck spent hours in the woods trying to find the perfect headstone and finally they’d managed to find one near the stream where Donghyuck and his family often visited when he was younger. Donghyuck felt that it was a sign and Minhyung had to say that he definitely agreed.

He carried it from the forest all the way back to Donghyuck’s backyard, while ignoring Donghyuck’s insistent begging that he let him help, where it finally found home next to a stone of a similar colour that had the name of Donghyuck’s mother written on it. Minhyung watches silently as Donghyuck carves his father’s name into the new rock and keeps his arm outstretched so that he can wrap it around Donghyuck’s shoulder when he is done.

When Donghyuck is finished with his task he stands up and falls into Minhyung’s embrace, similarly wrapping his own arms around Minhyung’s waist as he leans his head into the crook of the elder’s neck.

The two stay in this position for the next couple of moments as Donghyuck quietly mourns the loss of his father before Donghyuck finally speaks.

“After this I need to write a letter and send it to my brother.”

“Do you think he’ll come back home?” Minhyung questions.

“Unlikely. He moved away shortly after his marriage and his wife recently gave birth to a baby girl. His village is still unaffected so he probably wouldn’t want to come back here and risk getting infected, especially now that he has a child. The last time I sent a letter to him, I was informing him of our mother’s death. Now I am informing him of our father’s. I wish I didn’t always have to be the bearer of bad news.”

“It isn’t your fault.” Minhyung reasons.

“I know but it’s just so frustrating to feel so helpless.” Donghyuck says as he begins to shake.

Minhyung doesn’t say anything but instead pull Donghyuck into a bear hug as Donghyuck cries softly into his chest.

Minhyung somehow expected things to change after that but they don’t. Donghyuck did seem a bit more reserved but that was to be expected he supposed. Although, even if he wasn’t as talkative as he was in the past, his love for physical affection appeared to have doubled instead. At first it was just lingering touches and simple hand-holding but as the days wore on things had escalated to Donghyuck practically sitting in Minhyung’s lap as they watched the stars at night.

Minhyung isn’t exactly complaining of course. Being in such close proximity to a human for such prolonged periods was definitely something new and something that took him a while to get used to but everything just felt so _natural_ when it came to Donghyuck that over time it actually felt strange to _not_ be in physical contact with the younger boy.

Something else that Minhyung noticed was that sometimes, when Donghyuck thinks he’s being discreet, he’ll suddenly intently stare at him, almost as if he was afraid that Minhyung was going to disappear in front of his very eyes. Minhyung doesn’t comment on it though as he figures that it’s probably normal that Donghyuck would be suffering from a bit of separation anxiety given that he lost both of his parents in the span of six months.

A few weeks after Donghyuck’s father’s passing, Minhyung is awoken by the sound of footsteps. He doesn’t think much of it at first but immediately bolts up when he realises the weight of the footsteps were much heavier than Donghyuck’s.

He slowly pushes the door and upon realising that it was night time, confidently pushes it open and quietly tip toes past a sleeping Donghyuck in the living room. After it became obvious that Minhyung was going to be staying there for a while, they’d set up a spare bed in the living room for Donghyuck to nap in during the evening in while Minhyung remained safe in the semi sun-free bedroom.

Deducing that the footsteps were marching up the footpath that lead towards Donghyuck’s cottage, Minhyung quickly sneaks out of the house to confront the intruder.

Once he’s outside he notices a large figure nearing the front of the house so he flashes himself to stand in front of the stranger.

“Can I help you?” Minhyung questions icily, startling the man.

The man quickly straightens up and clears his throat. “Yes. Are you the doctor’s son? I was wondering if the doctor was back since I saw his helper today at the market. It’s quite urgent that I see him now. Tell him that it’s me, Seojoon.”

“No, I am not his son and I am sorry to inform you but Doctor Lee has already passed away. Are you perhaps displaying any symptoms? If so then we might be able treat you. There’s no guarantee that we can cure you but we will try.” Minhyung offers sympathetically.

“No, no, no. I’m fine. What do you mean the doctor passed away? He was supposed to travel to the west to find a cure for my younger sister Seohee! I left her here in his son’s care while I travelled to the capital to buy some supplies for my business. If he’s dead then what in heaven’s name is going to happen to my sister?!”

Minhyung holds his breath. Over the past couple of weeks Donghyuck and Minhyung had treated several patients so he wasn’t always sure of their names but wasn’t Seohee the girl with the long curly hair they had buried three weeks ago? Shit.

“I…am very sorry, Seojoon-ssi. Your sister, Seohee, she held on for as long as she could but I’m afraid to tell you that she’s already passed.”

Seojoon stills. “What did you just say?”

Minhyung quietly looks away.

Seojoon grips his hair and starts to heave. “My sister, she was so young. I trusted you people. How could you have done this to her!”

“Seojoon-ssi, please try to understand. This disease has no cure. We did everything we could to save her.” Minhyung tries to explain.

“NO! You didn’t try hard enough! It’s your fault! If I hadn’t been such a fool and trusted you _devils_ then my sister would still be alive!”

Minhyung instantly feels a pang of anger strike through him. From the day he’d arrived he has watched Donghyuck care for his patients. He knew first-hand the amount of time and effort Donghyuck had given to each and every one of them. He loved them and cared for them like they were his actual family. He also witnessed the way Donghyuck would torture himself after one of them died and he’d be _damned_ if he’d ever allow this stranger in front of him to doubt Donghyuck’s skills.

“I understand that this is a difficult time for you Seojoon-ssi. But do not direct your anger towards us, direct it at this virus. Doctor Lee’s son, Donghyuck, has gone beyond what was expected of him to try and cure his patients. He’s been putting his own life at risk, you cannot blame him for something that is completely out of his control.” Minhyung says through gritted teeth.

Seojoon laughs sardonically. “My sister is dead and you expect me to _praise_ that incompetent imp? I ought to storm into that house and end his life right now for ruining my family! Let _his_ mother know what it’s like to lose a child!”

In a matter of seconds Minhyung’s body moves automatically as he pushes Seojoon to the ground and hovers his own face above the other man’s.

“You do _not_ come here and threaten Donghyuck in front of me, do you understand? I’ll break every bone in your body, _twice_ , before I ever let you even come near him!” Minhyung snarls furiously.

Minhyung waits for a response but doesn’t get one. He looks down at the man below him more carefully and realises that he had accidently used too much force when he initially slammed his head into the ground and unintentionally caused the man to fall unconscious.

He’s still alive, Minhyung can still hear the dull thudding of his heart but there is blood seeping from underneath his head, rapidly spreading on the floor surrounding them which meant that there is a good possibility that he’s not going to make it.

There’s also the fact that the sight of fresh bright red blood flowing freely around him is making Minhyung’s mouth water. Before he even realises it, his fangs have popped out of his mouth and suddenly the only thing his eyes can focus on is the delicious crimson liquid.

Every single fibre of his body is telling to him to bite, to indulge in the tantalisingly sweet juice in front of him but he can’t. He promised himself that he wasn’t going to hurt another human and he certainly wasn’t going to break that vow right in front of Donghyuck’s home.

But he hasn’t eaten in so long. He’s been too afraid of leaving Donghyuck’s side since the latter’s father’s passing because he was worried about the boy’s mental health so he hasn’t been able to feed himself as frequently as he did in the past.

This man was going to kill Donghyuck.

He said so himself.

He’s not worthy of being alive.

No, he’s still human and you’re not hurting anymore humans.

Okay fine, just one bite.

Just a drop really.

You’re in control, you know when to stop.

_Just give in._

Without hesitation, Minhyung leans towards Seojoon’s neck and sinks his teeth into the soft flesh. His mouth is instantly flooded with the heavenly taste of human blood that hasn’t entered his body in _months._ His conscience leaves his body as all he focuses on is his euphoria and making sure to never stop drinking this forbidden liquid.

He doesn’t even know how much time has passed. He doesn’t care. There’s something in the back of his head that’s trying to scream ‘stop’ for some reason but he doesn’t understand why. This is the greatest feeling in the world! Nothing else is as important as drinking every last drop of this human’s blood.

Except, there _is_ something more important to him. Something _very_ important. Something that he’s forgotten about. Something that was woken up by the commotion and decided to come outside to see what was happening.

Something that was now looking at what Minhyung was doing in pure horror.

“Minhyung…what have you done?” Donghyuck breathes out softly.

Even though Donghyuck’s words are faint Minhyung can still hear them and immediately rips himself away from Seojoon’s body. He stumbles back a bit before he slowly turns around to come face to face with his greatest fear.

_Donghyuck knows._

Minhyung tries to wipe the excess blood off his face to no avail. He looks down at the body on the ground and realises that his chest isn’t moving. He can instantly feel the initial sting of tears in his eyes and all he wants to do is to run into Donghyuck’s arms and have him brush his fingers through his hair and tell him that everything will be alright.

But he can’t. He’s too afraid to even meet Donghyuck’s eyes at the moment because he knows that once he does, all he’s going to be met with is disappointment.

“I-I’m so sorry.” Minhyung chokes out before he flashes himself away into the darkness, failing to notice Donghyuck’s outstretched hand.

He doesn’t know where to go. Back home to Dongyoung-hyung? He felt guilty even thinking it but being at his maker’s side no longer felt like home. The place where he _really_ wants to be is on the hilltop where he and Donghyuck sat every night, talking about everything and nothing, with the boy he loved.

It’s true, he loved Donghyuck. He thought about confessing hundreds of times but the timing was never right. And then after everything that happened with Donghyuck’s father, he figured it would be best to give the boy some time to heal before he finally told him.

But that was never going to happen now, was it? How did he fuck this up so badly? There’s no way Donghyuck would ever forgive him, he’s a pacifist, he doesn’t believe in violence and Minhyung literally just _killed_ someone right in front of his eyes.

Donghyuck probably hates him now. Probably thinks he’s a monster. And he’s right, Minhyung _is_ a monster. That man, regardless of the fact that he threatened Donghyuck, was still a living human being with a family and people who cared about him. He probably had hopes and dreams and Minhyung had just taken an entire _lifetime_ from him for just a few minutes of pleasure.

Minhyung has never detested himself as much as he does right now.

He spends the next few days wandering through the forest. Because of the human blood coursing through his body he had no reason to hunt so he simply just wastes his time by sitting near a waterfall, reminiscing about his precious time spent with Donghyuck.

Eventually after a week or so he realises that if wallows anymore he’s going to lose his mind so he decides to seek out the comfort of his maker. He finds himself on the doorstep of the lonely house in the woods that he and Dongyoung moved into a few months ago. It actually hasn’t been that long since he left Dongyoung’s side but Donghyuck had left such a strong impression on his life that he can’t even remember what it was like to live in a world where Donghyuck wasn’t part of it.

Should he knock? Technically, this is still his house even though it didn’t feel like it anymore. It’s not like Dongyoung-hyung would mind if he just walked in anyway, they were family after all.

Suddenly, before Minhyung can even open the door, he finds himself being wrapped into strong hug from behind by a being that is much taller than him.

“My child, where have you been? I’ve been worried.”

Upon hearing his maker’s voice after so many weeks, Minhyung fights back the urge to cry. He’s been through so much recently, it feels good to be around someone familiar.

Minhyung turns around and buries his head into Dongyoung’s shoulder. “Hyung, I’ve done something bad. Something really bad. I don’t think that I will ever be the same.”

“Hush now. What happened? Did you go on a spree?” Dongyoung asks softly while gently stroking Minhyung’s hair.

“No, even worse.” Minhyung sniffs. “I fell in love with a human.”

Dongyoung's hand immediately freezes. “You _what_?”

Minhyung spends the next hour telling Dongyoung the truth while the elder listens in solemn silence. Eventually a few minutes after Minhyung had finished, Dongyoung sighs and places his hand onto Minhyung’s shoulder.

“Minhyung, after listening to your story I have come to this conclusion. This boy, Donghyuck, he loves you very much. The way he took you into his home and how heavily he depended on you following his father’s death…it all sounds like he is just as much in love with you as you are with him. If his character is as strong as you say it is then I think he will accept you for what you are.”

Minhyung stands up. “No! You don’t understand, hyung! He does not believe in hurting others. He’s a healer, not a killer. He’s disgusted in me, I know it.”

Dongyoung shakes his head sympathetically. “No, you _don’t_ know. Not until you go back there and you tell him the truth.”

“What happened to our rule of never telling humans the truth?”

“If this boy has captivated you to this extent then he truly must be a special person. I trust your judgement, Minhyung. I’ve been thinking, you’ve been alive for four hundred years, don’t you think it’s time you created your own vampire?”

“Never!” Minhyung spits out vehemently. “He’s too pure for something as vile as vampirism. I could never taint him like that.”

“It’s your choice. But I still think that you should go back there. Even if he rejects you, you will at least have peace of mind knowing that you went back and _fought_ for him. If you remain here then you are nothing but a coward who was never worthy of that young man’s love to begin with.”

Minhyung doesn’t say anything and stares at the floor. He knows that Dongyoung is right but what makes it difficult is that he knows that Donghyuck won’t be angry with him, just disappointed.

Which is exactly what Minhyung can’t handle.

After a few moments of silence Dongyoung stands up to head towards the house. “I will leave you here to make your decision. Choose wisely.”

Minhyung waits for Dongyoung to enter the house before he flops down on the ground and sits himself cross-legged. Dongyoung is right. He has to go back to Donghyuck’s house and explain himself. If not for himself than at least for Donghyuck’s sake. They have been through so much together, he owes it to him. He decides that he will also accept whatever Donghyuck decides to do after that, no matter how painful it might be, it’s only fair.

He picks himself off the ground before he starts to run at full speed in order to make it back to Donghyuck’s house before sunrise and makes it to the cottage in record time. He doesn’t know how it makes him feel when he notices that the house hasn’t changed at all.

Inhaling an unnecessary breath, he hesitantly knocks on the door and braces himself for whatever could be waiting for him on the other side. After a few seconds the door unenthusiastically swings open to reveal the owner of Minhyung’s heart.

When Minhyung takes a close look at Donghyuck he nearly gasps. His eyes were red and had dark circles, probably from a lack of sleep. His hair was unkempt and clearly unattended to and worst of all he somehow managed to lose weight, despite being impossibly skinny before.

But in spite of everything, Minhyung still thought that he was the most beautiful being that has ever existed.

When Donghyuck finally lifts his eyes and notices who’s standing before him, he immediately drops the cup of water he was previously holding in his hand and pulls Minhyung into a hug. Minhyung can feel a wetness forming on his shoulder and he’s instantly flooded with guilt.

He’s the reason for Donghyuck’s tears.

“Donghyuck, I”-

“No.” Donghyuck interrupts as he pulls himself away and uses the back of his hand to wipe away his tears. “Before you say anything, there’s something that I have to do.”

“What do you”- But before Minhyung can even finish his sentence, he suddenly finds himself being kissed by the younger human.

It’s the most extraordinary feeling in the world. Of course he’s kissed people (and more) throughout his long life but this kiss is different. Donghyuck’s mouth tastes sweet, sweeter than sugar and his lips were soft and eager, a deadly combination. Minhyung has never kissed anyone he’s been in love with before so it’s a totally new experience for him. A completely phenomenal experience that couldn’t be compared to _anything_ that he’s ever felt before.

Minhyung could have went on for an eternity but of course, being a human, Donghyuck had to pull back in order to catch his breath. Minhyung waits in anticipation patiently, fully expecting Donghyuck to kiss him again when instead, he finds himself being punched in the chest.

It feels like nothing, honestly he doesn’t even budge, but knowing _who_ was doing it to him easily makes it the worse injury he’s ever suffered in his life.

“I suppose I deserve that.” Minhyung comments dejectedly.

“Of course you do. Do you remember the first day you spent here? You disappeared during the night and when you came back you promised me that you would always be there for me? Because I do.”

Minhyung shamefully looks away. “I’m sorry that I ran out on you the other night. I just didn’t know how to face you.”

Donghyuck grabs Minhyung’s chin and forces him to look him in the eye. “Like this. Minhyung, do you think that I am a fool?”

“No.”

“A child?”

“No.”

“Then why on earth would you assume that I didn’t suspect your true nature?” Donghyuck asks, raising his eyebrow.

Minhyung widens his eyes in surprise. “Y-you knew?”

Donghyuck nods his head. “I didn’t know _what_ you were, and I still don’t, but I could at least tell that you weren’t human. You didn’t eat, you could never go out into the sun and whenever I lay on your chest I could never hear a heartbeat. But even if I didn’t know what you were, it didn’t matter. You were Minhyung, that’s all I needed to know.”

Minhyung swallows uncomfortably. “But after what you saw the other night…”

“It was shocking, yes. I’d never seen that side of you but I wasn’t _scared_ , I was just concerned about you. It was so unlike you to do something like that.”

“B-but I killed someone and you don’t believe in violence.”

“I don’t and neither do you. I don’t believe that you had _any_ intention of hurting that man. You lost control for a little bit, that’s all. It happens and besides you didn’t kill him. I took him back to the house and took care of him. I put him on an iron-heavy diet and he was back on his feet after three days. He hit his head a bit so he couldn’t remember what happened so I told him about his sister and he was visibly upset but he was so grateful that I took care of him that left here on a good note. Minhyung, you’re not a bad person. If you ever feel that urge again, just think of me and think of how much I love you. You’ll never lose control again. I won’t allow you too.”

“You love me?” Minhyung asks, eyes shining.

“My sweet Minhyung, are you really this dense? You’re my entire world. Perhaps that is why I’m willing to ignore all these peculiar occurrences. I see you for _who_ you are and not _what_ you are.”

Minhyung immediately breaks down and allows Donghyuck to lead him back to his bedroom. After a while Minhyung composes himself and finally tells Donghyuck the truth. He tells him everything starting from his human days right up until the day he met him.

At the end Donghyuck pulls him in for another hug and rubs his back soothingly.

“It’s alright. Everything will be alright. Minhyung, I don’t care what you are as long as you’re mine. Promise me you’ll never leave my side again?”

“I promise.” Minhyung says before he cups Donghyuck’s cheeks in between his hands and kisses him again. Donghyuck removes Minhyung’s hands and places them on his hips instead and playfully bites his lip.

Minhyung smiles and tightens his hold around his new lover before gently nudging him onto his back. He then cages Donghyuck in between his arms as he pushes his tongue further into the younger’s mouth, exploring every crevice he could find. Donghyuck wraps his arms around Minhyung’s neck before he suddenly grabs a fistful of Minhyung’s hair and forcefully tugs at it.

Minhyung allows his head to be pulled back so that Donghyuck can use this opportunity to softly peck Minhyung’s now visible Adam’s apple before he immediately dives back down to Donghyuck’s jaw. He alternates between pecks and kitten licks as he works his way down Donghyuck’s neck until finally his mouth is hovering right above his jugular vein.

Minhyung swallows hard and fights back against his fangs who were desperately trying to pop out. His knees begin to quiver as he starts to feel himself lose the battle when suddenly he feels Donghyuck wrapping his arms around his waist and leaning his head forward to whisper something into his ear.

“You won’t hurt me. I trust you.”

Minhyung instantly stills before he confidently leans forward to kiss Donghyuck’s protruding vein. He moves his head back up until his forehead was resting on Donghyuck’s and stares deeply into the latter’s chocolate brown eyes.

“I love you.” He states simply.

Donghyuck immediately breaks out into a grin. When it came to Minhyung, fancy words weren’t needed. His confession was blunt but it conveyed more emotion than what any bard or poet could even dream of.

“I love you too.” Donghyuck giggles before placing his lips against Minhyung’s again.

A few hours later Donghyuck wakes up in his bed. He looks down at his waist and immediately notices a pair of pale arms tightly wound around it. He turns his head and witnesses a sleeping Minhyung. He looks so peaceful. He’s never actually seen Minhyung sleeping before and for a second Donghyuck debates on whether or not he should just stay in bed the whole day, gazing upon Minhyung’s serene face.

But he knows that he can’t. He has chores and patients to take care of, he doesn’t have the luxury of being able to do what he wants. Not in this lifetime anyway.

So he gingerly peels off Minhyung’s arms, eliciting a whine from the other but after a couple of seconds he rolls over to the other side and doesn’t make any additional noises. Donghyuck quietly places his feet onto the ground and pads lightly across the room, picking up his various items of clothing along the way, before he swiftly exits the room. He notes that it’s almost sunrise as he enters the kitchen to scrummage through his cupboard to find the thing that he’s been desperately craving for the past couple of hours.

He tries to dilute it with some water to make the bitter taste go away but it doesn’t really do much. He swallows painfully and shakes his body as the bitterness spreads throughout his taste buds but it’s too late. He can already feel it coming.

Not wanting to disturb Minhyung’s slumber, he quickly races outside until he’s close to one of the white rose bushes that were planted by his mother. Now at a distance that he knows Minhyung won’t be able to hear him from, Donghyuck finally lets it out.

The coughing. It doesn’t stop. It wracks throughout his entire body until he’s finally unable to physically stand anymore and collapses to his knees like a paper doll. He places his hands onto the sandy earth in front of him and tries to focus on his beloved roses in an attempt to distract him from his torture.

What he sees instead though nearly breaks him. Bright red flecks splattered angrily across the once pristine white roses.

Tears start to well in Donghyuck’s eyes as he comes to the horrifying realisation that those flowers were now forever ruined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S. Donghyuck wasn't really THAT upset about the roses :(  
> Also vampires are like cats, they love sleeping lol. As usual, please leave a comment down below if you enjoyed!!


	5. V

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chap is little more focused on their relationship which is why there’s not much happening with the VDC and the mysterious attacker stuff. The good news is that this chapter has a happy ending! (for once)

**Year 2018**

“What’s the punishment now then?” Mark asks, even though he’s already certain what Doyoung is going to say.

Doyoung sighs and places both of his hands onto Mark’s shoulders.

“You have to create a new vampire.”

Mark instantly freezes. “Hyung please, _no."_ He whispers in horror. _"_ I can’t do that. You _know_ I can’t do that. I’d rather die!”

“Relax, Mark. You’ve still got some time before the VDC finds you out. If I were you I’d keep a low profile. If those goons ever found out about your relationship with the human they would make sure that _he’s_ the one you turn so try to keep your distance from him for now.”

Mark immediately tenses up. “I can’t. I need to be around him at all times whenever he’s in public. If something happened to him and I wasn’t there to protect him”-

“Alright, alright.” Doyoung says with his arms raised defensively. “Guard him if you must but do it in a way that makes it obvious that you share no personal relationship with him. If you ever get interrogated by the VDC you could say something like he paid you to be his bodyguard. Vampire bodyguards are becoming very popular these days so hopefully they’d leave him alone after that.”

“Okay.” Mark says while nodding his head. “If keeping him at an arms distance will save him from being turned then that’s what I’m going to do. I-I guess I did say I was going to leave town after this so by doing this I'll make it easier for us both when I'm gone.”

Doyoung solemnly nods his head. “I truly believe this is the best option, I can’t watch you suffer like that again. Wendy’s progeny is right, you _won’t_ survive a second time.”

**__________________________________**

“What are your plans for tonight, loser?” Jeno asks Haechan as he watches the latter wrap the cutlery up in napkins.

“Go home. Watch TV. Avoid my brother in case he tries to get me to help him with his Trig homework.” Haechan answers distractedly.

“So nothing? Great, I’m coming home with you.”

Haechan startles and nearly drops his fork. “What?”

“I said, _I’m coming home with you.”_ Jeno says mockingly while poking Haechan’s shoulder.

“I know, I heard. It’s just that you’ve never made plans with me outside of work before so I’m a little surprised. Also, um, not to be _that_ guy but don’t you have work?”

Jeno shrugs his shoulders. “Taeyong-hyung is closing the diner down early tonight because there’s some major health code violation in the kitchen that needs to be sorted out. I didn’t ask any further questions. Plus I don’t really have any other plans for tonight so, yeah.”

“What about all your drinking buddies?” Haechan questions.

“Shh, not so loudly! You know Taeyong-hyung doesn’t approve of us drinking!” Jeno hisses as he checks to see if anyone heard. “Anyway, they’re exactly that. Drinking buddies. I’m not in the mood to get drunk tonight, today…is kind of a difficult day for me. Look, am I coming over or not?”

“I mean, yeah, if you really want to. There’s not much to do at my house though.” Haechan replies.

“I don’t mind. Anything is better than being alone.” Jeno says, sounding wistful for first time since Haechan had met him.

Haechan moves his head to stare curiously at Jeno for a few seconds before the latter suddenly shakes his head and flashes Haechan an eye-smile.

Honestly the idea of Jeno coming to his house doesn’t really sound that bad. Recently things between him and Mark have been…frigid to put it politely. At first Haechan just thought that Mark was still focused on finding his attacker but he has to say that the way Mark has been ignoring him for the past few days has felt _really_ personal.

He doesn’t understand why thought because it’s not like they had a fight or anything. It really came out of the blue.

He’ll admit that he’s actually more confused than upset about it because Mark would be really inconsistent with his behaviour. Sometimes he would catch him looking at him with lovesick eyes but at the same time he was constantly rebuffing every attempt Haechan ever made to touch him.

Okay, Haechan lied. He definitely _is_ upset about it.

Which is why he decides to let Jeno come over. It’s a great way to keep himself distracted from all the drama happening in his life and not to mention there’s a slight chance that he could make Mark jealous by hanging out with someone else.

He swears he’s totally doing it for the first reason.

Speaking of, Haechan glances over at Mark’s table and notices the vampire typing something on his computer.

“Here, it’s your turn now. I’m going to go talk to Mark for a bit.” Haechan says with a sigh before he makes his way over to Mark’s table.

“Mark?” He calls out.

Mark lifts up his head. “What’s up?”

“What are you doing?”

“Emailing some of my contacts to see if they know of any new vampires in town. I’m pretty sure that the guy who attacked you was a newly-turned vampire and no one that I know of turned anyone recently so it has to be a newcomer who made him.”

“I see, so um, still no idea who could be behind all of this?”

Mark sighs and shuts his laptop. “Unfortunately not.”

“Do you think that there’s a possibility that that guy was lying? What if there’s no threat and we’re just losing our minds over nothing?”

“Maybe. It’s too soon into the investigation to make that assumption though so I’m not going to stop until I can say with 100% certainty that your life is no longer in danger.”

Haechan nods his head. “I see, thank you. Anyway look, the reason I came over here actually is because I wanted to tell you that Jeno is coming home with me tonight. Are you still going to walk me home?”

Mark instantly curls his fingers into a ball. “Of course. What kind of question is that? Look, I’ve been meaning to ask you this for a while but what’s the deal between you and that guy anyway? He’s always giving me these weird looks and no offense but I don’t think I’ve ever come across a shitter waiter.”

A smug feeling washes over Haechan. “Be careful Mark. You’re starting to sound jealous. He’s my friend and yeah his waiting skills are a joke but he’s actually a good guy deep inside. He’s just super nosy about you and me because he thinks we’re like, a thing.”

“What thing?”

“You know…a _thing.”_

“I know what ‘thing’ means but I don’t think you’re using it in the right context.” Mark says while squinting his eyes in confusion.

“Oh my god. A _thing,_ as in a _couple.”_

Mark’s face instantly turns red. “O-oh. I see. Well that’s kind of preposterous, don’t you think? We’re just friends.”

Haechan does a double take. Did Mark just really say it would be preposterous for them to be a couple? Seriously?

“Friends? I mean, yeah, friends. Look, just walk a couple of paces behind us if you have to but make sure Jeno doesn’t see you. I don’t want him to find out about everything that’s going on.”

“Fine.” Mark sighs. “I guess I do feel slightly better knowing that you won’t be alone tonight.”

Haechan fights back the urge to scowl. He’s doing it again. Making it seem like dating is completely out of the question while simultaneously worrying about him.

Seriously, what the hell is his problem?

Later that evening Haechan and Jeno were sitting in the former’s room watching a re-run of some variety show. Haechan had to admit that it was little weird to see Jeno in a setting that wasn’t the diner. He doesn’t really know why it’s taken them so long to hang out outside of work because for all their petty arguments, he and Jeno were actually pretty good friends. He never failed to be in a good mood and no matter how terrible Haechan’s day was going it always seemed to pick up whenever he spoke to Jeno.

When the episode finally finishes, Jeno leans forward for the remote and switches the TV off. Haechan blinks and turns to Jeno in surprise.

“Why’d you turn it off?” He asks in a confused tone.

“Because.” Jeno starts with a mischievous smile on his face. “It’s about high time you told me about what’s going on with you and Mark.”

Haechan immediately flushes. Usually when Jeno grills him about his relationship with Mark he’s able to get out of it by busying himself with work but now that they were alone in his room there was nowhere to run.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He stammers out nervously.

“Oh please. You don’t think I’ve seen the way you’ve been looking at him recently? Also did you really think I wouldn’t notice the fact that he’s been walking you home every night?”

“Look, there’s nothing going on between us okay? I mean, not _yet_ anyway.”

“Ooh, spill the deets.” Jeno coos.

“Okay so _obviously_ he’s freaking hot right? He’s also, like, super nice and he’s a _great_ listener.”

“But?” Jeno gently pushes.

Haechan sighs. “But he’s got a…difficult past.”

“You mean like a crazy ex or something?”

“No…maybe? I’m not sure, he did mention someone but it seems to put him in a bad mood so I try not to talk about it.”

“So do you have feelings for him or not?” Jeno asks, raising his eyebrow.

Haechan pauses. He’s realised in the past few days that he’s not really all that bothered by the whole being in a relationship with a vampire thing. As a matter of fact, he finds the idea of dating a vampire to be actually quite intriguing and to be _really_ honest - kind of exciting.

Not that any of that matters since Mark is _impossible_ to read. He’s forever giving him mixed signals like telling him that he’ll protect him with his life the one day and then calling the idea of them dating ‘preposterous’ the next. As much as Haechan loves to act strong, he’s totally terrified of rejection so he knows he’ll never act on whatever budding feelings he has until he’s _completely_ certain of how Mark feels.

“I might.” He admits slowly. “But I can’t understand him. Some days he’s warm and others he’s colder than Santa’s refrigerator. I think for now I’d rather keep everything bottled up until I know how he feels. I just don’t want to do anything that’ll jeopardise what we have now you know?”

Jeno taps his chin silently for a few seconds before he eventually speaks. “Honestly? I don’t. You clearly like him and he’s forever hanging around the diner so either he’s a total freak or he’s totally crazy for you too. You could…just ask him directly about it? It’s really not that hard, I mean if I had a chance at love again my _god_ would I take it!”

Haechan is slightly taken aback by Jeno’s sudden passionate declaration. Sure he always teases him about Mark but Haechan never really expected Jeno to be the _cheesy_ type.

“What do you mean by chance at love again? I would have figured that someone like you would have a new girl on your arm each night?” He teases in an attempt to steer the conversation in a different direction.

Jeno laughs but Haechan can instantly hear the insincerity in his voice.

“You mean I’d have a new _boy_ on my arm every night. Besides, I’m a relationship kind of guy anyway.”

Jeno’s gay? Huh, he never knew that.

“Sooo, what’s happening with that then? Are you in a relationship now?” Haechan questions inquisitively.

Jeno’s face suddenly darkens and Haechan instantly regrets asking the question.

“Forget about it. I shouldn’t have asked.” He says quickly, not wanting to upset the boy further.

Jeno relaxes his shoulders and sighs. “No…you shouldn’t feel bad about it. It’s an innocent question after all. I’m just, I don’t know. I _was_ in a relationship but I’m not anymore.”

Haechan stills. Should he ask for more information? He’s never seen Jeno look so vulnerable before and it’s kind of freaking him out.

“What was he like?” He eventually asks weakly.

A fond smile grows on Jeno’s face. “He was…perfect. Actual perfection. His name was Jaemin and he was my neighbour. I remember the day we met so vividly. He knocked on my door because he needed to borrow _sugar_ of all things. I could immediately tell from his clothes that he was much wealthier than me. My family weren’t exactly broke but times were difficult so we were trying ration our portions. I really shouldn’t have because it was our last jar but when I saw that dazzling-bright smile of his, I immediately caved.”

Now if this was anyone else Haechan would have immediately mocked them for being whipped but since it’s _Jeno,_ the guy who once refused to serve a customer just because she was wearing a fanny pack, he’s a little too surprised to even say anything at all.

Jeno continues his story. “The following day he knocked on my door again but this time he had over _ten_ jars of sugar in his arms. That was the moment _I knew._ We tried to be friends for a bit but we were just kidding ourselves. Within weeks we were madly in love. We spent nearly every day together, it was _magical.”_

“But then?” Haechan softly asks.

Jeno rubs his head and sighs. “But then our families found out. It’s not that they disapproved of gay people, it’s that they didn’t even acknowledge that being gay is an _actual_ thing. Like I said earlier, Jaemin came from a very wealthy family so they wanted him to marry his dad’s best friend’s daughter. Her family were just as rich as Jaemin’s. They’d been engaged since they were five.”

“Woah.” Haechan breathes out. “You mean like an arranged marriage? People still do that?!”

Jeno nods his head. “In more traditional families, yeah. Anyway, once his parents found out about us they threatened to disown him. My family were none the better and told me that if I didn’t break up with him then I was never going to be allowed back in the house again.”

“Fuck. So what did you guys do?”

Jeno starts to slightly tremble so Haechan immediately places his hand onto the former’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. Jeno looks over at Haechan’s hand and smiles melancholically.

“What did you think we did? We broke up. I loved Jaemin and he loved me but neither of us had the guts to betray our families. It was, and will always be, the most painful thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

Haechan’s inside are immediately filled with sympathy for his friend. No wonder Jeno’s always been so encouraging about his and Mark’s relationship, he knows what it’s like to be in love. Jeno is seriously a lot more thoughtful than he realised and he kind of feels guilty for all the times he’s teased him for being a hoe.

“Do you know where Jaemin is right now?” Haechan asks carefully.

Jeno lets out a heavy sigh. “No. I haven’t seen him since the day we broke up. I’d like to think that he’s happy now though. He was so devastated the last time I saw him…I suppose we both were. Today is…the anniversary of our break-up. Needless to say it’s my least favourite day of the year.”

Haechan instantly pulls Jeno into a silent hug. Jeno responds by wrapping his arms around him and pulling him closer.

“Thank you.” He muffles quietly into Haechan’s ear.

“No problem. This is what friends are for.” Haechan replies while softly patting Jeno’s back.

Jeno pulls himself away and suddenly looks down at his hands. “You know, I’ve never told anyone that story before. You’re literally the first person to know about Jaemin and me, other than our families of course.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. This is probably going to sound weird but you’re probably my closest friend.”

“It’s not weird, you’re mine too. Like I know we haven’t really had a deep conversation before this but I’ve always felt a good vibe coming from you. Does that make sense?”

“Definitely.” Jeno answers. “I’ve felt that way about you too. I think it’s because you kind of remind me of my mom.”

“…You mean the homophobic lady who nearly chased you out the house?” Haechan asks with a sour expression on his face.

Jeno instantly throws his head back and laughs heartily. Haechan is sort of confused because he certainly wasn’t _trying_ to make a joke but he has to admit that he gets a fuzzy feeling in his chest when he sees Jeno starting to return to his old self.

“N-no.” Jeno stutters in between giggles. “My mom wasn’t homophobic. Not even a little, she loved me for who I was. I think a part of her always knew that I wasn’t like the other boys but she never said anything because she knew I wasn’t ready to talk about it. She, uh, actually passed away before the whole thing with Jaemin blew up.”

Haechan’s jaw nearly dropped. He never would have guessed that someone like Jeno would have had to deal with so much tragedy in his young life. He always used to seem so upbeat at work, Haechan seriously _never_ would have guessed that behind that devastatingly gorgeous eye-smile of his was a whole world of pain.

“I’m so sorry. But I suppose then I should be grateful that I remind you of her.”

“Just…your smile I guess. It’s the kind of smile that makes other people smile, my mom was like that too. And you’re always taking care of me at work, putting up with my bullshit…”

“Listen we need to talk about that.” Haechan huffs. “Good looks can only get you so far, you need to learn how to be professional at work. It’s beyond ridiculous how lazy you are I mean”-

“Thank you.” Jeno says suddenly while looking Haechan earnestly in the eyes.

Haechan sighs and lightly punches Jeno’s shoulder. “You’re welcome, _loser.”_

The next morning Haechan wakes up in his bed, alone. Sometimes after their chat they decided to watch some stereotypical American sitcom that was playing on TV and he guesses at some point he must have accidently dozed off. He briefly wonders where Jeno is when he notices a hand-written note placed delicately on the pillow next to him.

_Thanks for making what is usually a really difficult night for me a little easier._

_As a token of my gratitude I’ll cover one of your shifts!_

_From,_

_The amazingly awesome and definitely not a loser Lee Jeno_

Haechan snorts as he folds the paper in half and tucks it into his drawer.

Like Jeno was ever going to cover one of his shifts.

Haechan does have to admit though that last night clarified two very important things for him. Firstly, Jeno is a lot cooler than he initially thought and they need to make more plans to hang out in the future and secondly, he doesn’t want to live a life filled with pain and regret. He can’t sit around the house waiting for Mark to make a move, if he wants their relationship to move forward then he was going to have to do it himself. Jeno was too much of a coward to fight for his shot at happiness but Haechan would be damned if he ever allowed himself to fall down that same path.

Haechan decides in that moment that he’s going to find out once and for all how Mark truly feels about him, _tonight_.

So later that evening after Mark walks him home from his shift at the diner, Haechan turns his head to the raven-haired boy next to him and invites him to come inside for the first time since they met.

Mark raises his eyebrow at the unusual request. “Did something happen? Why do you want me to come inside?”

“My family are all visiting my grandparents down in the countryside. I’m feeling kind of nervous to be home alone.”

Haechan isn’t actually lying. He’s a pretty brave guy but even _he_ has his limits when it came to psycho vampires trying to kill him.

“ _What?_ Why didn’t you tell me that sooner? Jesus, okay let’s quickly go inside before someone sees us.” Mark hisses as he quickly tries to usher Haechan into the house.

Haechan immediately wants to ask Mark why he doesn’t want people to see them together but he doesn’t have the chance, not when Mark is practically dragging him into his own house.

Once they’re finally inside his room, Mark awkwardly perches himself on the edge of his bed as he tries to avoid making eye-contact with Haechan while he changes into more comfortable clothes.

After he’s done he flops himself onto the opposite side of the bed. Mark doesn’t make any attempt to make conversation and for a second Haechan contemplates just going to sleep but he knows he won’t be able to sleep peacefully until he confronts Mark about his behaviour.

“My mom would have a heart attack if she knew I brought over two different guys on two back-to-back nights.” He jokes in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Mark suddenly whips his head around to face Haechan. “You brought the terrible waiter up to your _bedroom?_ ”

“…Yeah?”

Haechan watches the veins in Mark’s neck pop out as he swallows. “I see. What did you two do up here?”

“We, uh, did body shots and fooled around a little. So fooling around means”-

“I know what fooling around is.” Mark snaps angrily. He lets out a shaky breath before he asks, “Are you and your _co-worker_ courting each other then?”

Haechan is stunned. He was obviously joking about the body shots thing but not only did Mark seriously believe him, he was _actually_ getting jealous. Haechan wants to say he feels chuffed but in reality it just makes him more confused.

“You know people don’t really saying ‘courting’ in 2018 anymore, right?” Haechan teases hesitantly.

“Whatever, _dating,_ then.” Mark spits out while folding his arms.

Haechan sighs and and shakes his head disbelievingly. “ _No_. Also you do know that I was just joking before right? In reality we just ended falling asleep while watching TV.”

Mark doesn’t say anything after that but Haechan doesn’t miss the way his shoulders instantly seem to relax after his admission. Finally, Haechan sees a window of opportunity.

“Mark…were you jealous?” Haechan probes hesitantly.

“Of course not, that’s ridiculous.”

Haechan nods his head and takes a deep breath. “Okay. So let me ask you this instead then. Do you have feelings for me?”

“W-what? Why are you suddenly asking me that?” Mark sputters as he tries to avoid Haechan’s knowing eyes.

“Because, when we first met you made it seem like you were really into me. But recently, I don’t know, it’s like you’re too afraid to even look me in the eye. What did I do to you? You keep saying shit like ‘we’re just friends’ and stuff but the way you take care of me is _definitely_ not platonic. I told you that I’m cool with the whole vampire thing so why are you pushing me away all of a sudden?”

Mark bites his lip nervously and starts to fiddle the sleeve of his shirt. “It…isn’t personal if that’s what you think.”

“So you’re admitting that you’ve been treating me differently?”

Mark sighs and turns to directly face Haechan. “Look, it’s complicated okay? Dating a vampire isn’t as easy as it seems in the movies. There’s _rules_ against human-vampire relationships and let’s not forget the fact that I could lose control around you.”

“But you wouldn’t. I trust you.”

Mark instantly freezes. He slowly lifts his head up to stare dead into Haechan’s defiant eyes.

“Don’t _ever_ say that again. Do you understand? Vampires are _monsters._ Promise me right here, right now, that you will _never_ trust a vampire.”

“What are you talking about? _You’re_ a vampire too in case you forgot.” Haechan retorts stubbornly.

“ _Exactly._ Your life would constantly be in danger if you and I dated. _”_

“Are you freaking kidding me? In case you forgot, my life is _already_ in danger so how exactly would us being together change anything?” Haechan challenges defiantly.

Mark looks away, speechless. Haechan can tell that there’s something else deeper that’s bothering him but he can’t seem to figure out exactly what it is.

“What’s the real reason you’re afraid of us? Mark, I get that you’re this ultra-moody thousand year old vampire but you’ve got to let me in. You can say whatever you want to say but ultimately you and I _both_ know that there’s a spark here. If you don’t want to be with me then I’ll try to understand but you _have_ to give me a valid reason.”

Mark sighs and squeezes his eyes shut. “There’s this organisation. They’re called the Vampire Defence Council, they’re basically our government. It’s against their law to kill another vampire but as you know that’s exactly what I did a few weeks back.”

Haechan frowns. “So what’s going to happen to you then?”

“In order to ‘replenish’ what I took from the vampire population, I’d have to turn someone.”

“So do it and get it over with? I don’t get what the issue is.”

Mark opens his eyes. “I’d have to turn you.”

Haechan gasps and nearly falls backwards. “ _What?!”_

“If the VDC finds out how close you and I are they would force me to turn you. It’s easier to turn someone that you know since a maker needs to spend a significant amount of time teaching their progeny about the ins and outs of being an immortal.”

“Holy fuck. But aren’t you like this super old, mega-powerful vampire who can kick everyone’s ass?”

Mark blushes and awkwardly clears his throat. “That’s not _entirely_ accurate but I suppose if it was one on one then I would have an advantage over most but that’s not the case here. There’s a lot more of them than there is of me so unfortunately if they order me to do something I might not necessarily be able to refuse.”

“That’s…but how would they know how close you and I are?”

“Well obviously they haves spies that monitor the streets of Seoul.”

Haechan gets up onto his knees and starts to crawls towards Mark. “Right, but how would they would what’s happening here in this room right now?”

Mark nervously gulps. “They wouldn’t, I guess.”

“So what you’re _saying_ is that you don’t actually have an issue with me, it’s just the VDC you’re worried about?”

“Well technically yes but…” Mark trails off when he sees how Haechan’s oversized sleeping shirt is slipping off his shoulder.

Haechan notices Mark’s gaze and smirks. “Stop torturing yourself, it’s not the middle ages anymore. It’s the 21st century, you don’t always have to be such a cliché broody vampire. I don’t know if I’ve made this clear or not but I really like you so if you want me, _have me_.”

“Y-you’re the devil.” Mark stammers out fearfully. “I had my resolve but it’s so easy for you to destroy it.”

Haechan giggles and settles himself into Mark’s lap. He rests his hands on the vampire’s cool chest and hovers his lips just a few inches away from Mark’s with a grin on his face.

“What can I say? I always get what I want.”

It takes Mark less than two seconds to meet his lips with Haechan’s as he wraps his arms around the latter’s waist to pull him closer. Mark licks Haechan’s lips which causes the younger to immediately allow the elder entrance into his mouth. Their tongues dance languidly with each other as their bodies slowly fall backwards onto the bed.

After a few seconds Mark flips their positions around so that he’s the one hovering above Haechan.

“I really shouldn’t be doing this but right now it’s hard to remember what the consequences are when you’re looking at me like that.” Mark says as he waits for Haechan to catch his breath.

Haechan smiles devilishly.

“So don’t think. Just do.”

So Mark does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah even despite everything going on with the VDC Mark ultimately has a weakness for Haechan (like he does irl lol) which is why he kind just says ‘fuck it I’mma make out with the pretty boy in front of me and not care about the consequences’. Deep down he’s still a little messed up about the Donghyuck thing but I thought that it would be more appropriate to dedicate an entire chapter to Mark and Haechan working through Mark’s trauma about losing him than to mention it here cos theres a lot happening in this chap already. For now though Mark is just a vampire with needs so I decided to throw him a bone haha. Esp considering what’s going to happen in the next flashback yikes.


	6. VI

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter I’ve been hyping for ages, finally! It’s short but impactful. I apologise about the length but I didn’t really want to drag this chapter out for obvious reasons…
> 
> Oh and in case some of you are wondering I did mention this in a previous chapter but Minhyung’s blood can’t cure the disease. It just makes it spread.
> 
> Anyway, this is a direct continuation of what happened in chapter 4 , hope you guys enjoy (?)

**Year 1344**

Donghyuck somehow manages to shakily lift himself off the floor. He immediately tries to steady himself by leaning against a nearby tree but still feels extremely dizzy. Luckily he was smart enough to recognise the symptoms in himself before it was too late and swallowed some of the herbs Jungwoo brought back from the West.

Jungwoo claimed that it would prolong his life by at least two weeks but if he’s already coughing up blood after just few days it means that his condition is a lot further on than he’d like.

He’s not afraid of dying, he never has been. Being a son of a doctor meant that he already understood the fragility of human life from a very young age.

But all of that changed when he met Minhyung.

Minhyung was the antithesis of everything he’s ever been taught. Despite what humans might think, they’re actually fragile creatures. One simple virus could kill an entire village.

But that didn’t apply to Minhyung. He was strong, fast and most fascinating of all, he could never die.

It was exhilarating to watch. 

Donghyuck was in awe of his very presence and by some fluke or _miracle_ rather, Minhyung had chosen him. Minhyung loved _him._

They could have spent years, _decades even_ , at each other’s sides.

So why, _why_ did his body have to let him down now at the peak of his youth? 

Donghyuck suddenly feels the urge to heave but he’s pretty certain it has nothing to do with his illness.

**__________________________________**

Later that evening after Minhyung wakes up he finds Donghyuck huddled in the bed they’d set up in the living room. At first he watches fondly as his lover rests but frowns when he notices the way the younger is almost entirely engulfed by the blanket due to his tiny frame.

Feeling the sudden urge to protect him, Minhyung crawls into the tiny bed alongside Donghyuck and wraps his arms firmly around him.

Upon Minhyung’s disturbance Donghyuck wakes up from his slumber and turns his face towards the other.

“Morning.” He says with a sleepy grin before he sweetly pecks Minhyung on the mouth.

“You mean evening.” Minhyung teases lightly.

“Since you came into my life I can no longer tell the difference.” Donghyuck replies as he sits up and stretches his arms out.

“What are you doing? Come back to bed, you need to rest. You’ve been looking very pale recently and that’s my job remember?”

“How can I go back to sleep when I’ve been anticipating seeing you the whole day?”

“I’ll still be here when you wake up. Don’t worry, I can control myself around you.”

“I can’t.” Donghyuck says with a mischievous smile as he brushes his lips against Minhyung’s.

Minhyung smiles into the kiss and buries his hands into Donghyuck’s thick mane. They stay like this for a few seconds before Donghyuck suddenly pushes Minhyung away.

“What’s wrong?” Minhyung asks, concerned.

But before he gets an answer, Donghyuck is already halfway out the door. Minhyung immediately follows him outside where he discovers him doubled over, his whole body shaking.

_No._

Donghyuck coughs a few more times before he finally manages to stop himself. He’s panting heavily by the time he turns around to try and explain himself to Minhyung but when he witnesses the distraught expression on the other’s face he breaks and finds himself in tears instead.

Minhyung, too perturbed to even say anything, simply drops to his knees and stares numbly into the distance.

“When…?” Minhyung eventually whispers hoarsely.

“I diagnosed myself the day after you left.” Donghyuck replies as he uses the back of his hand to wipe away the blood staining his lips.

“Did you take the medicine Jungwoo brought? What about the other mix you made? What are we still doing outside we need to go inside!” Minhyung instantly flashes himself over to Donghyuck and picks him up bridal-style.

Donghyuck tries to initially protest but he still feels drained from his coughing fit and not to mention being held in Minhyung’s arms isn’t exactly the worst feeling in the world.

Once they’re inside, Minhyung tightly tucks Donghyuck into his bed and races back to kitchen to fetch some medication.

“Be careful, I already took some in the morning. We need to ration those for our patients.” Donghyuck croaks out.

“Darling, I know that you love to take care of others but you have to realise that right now, I truly couldn’t care less about those other people. My priority is you.”

“I know, and I’m grateful but they deserve the same treatment I do. After all it’s not like I’m more important than them.”

“You are to me.” Minhyung replies longingly.

Donghyuck doesn’t say anything after that. It’s not like he would thought any differently if the roles were reversed.

Minhyung holds forward the herb mix and waits for Donghyuck to take it into his mouth. He watches in pain as Donghyuck swallows the medicine and winces with him when the bitterness enters his taste buds.

Suddenly, an idea occurs to Minhyung.

“I should go. I’ve met some healers along my travels, perhaps they would know how to fight this monstrosity of a disease. I won’t be long, I can run fast. I’ll be gone for less than three days, I promise.” Minhyung says as he stands up to walk towards the door.

“No!” Donghyuck cries out, grabbing Minhyung’s arm weakly.

“Yes! I need to go out right now before it’s too late!”

“Minhyung, don’t you see? It’s already too late. You and I have dealt with cases like mine countless of times. I’d rather you stay here and take care of me. If you leave now then…I may not be here when you return.”

Minhyung’s face crumbles as he realises that what the younger was saying was true. Not knowing what else to do, he buries his head into Donghyuck’s chest and clings onto the back of his shirt in a desperate attempt to hold onto him while he still could.

Donghyuck rests his cheek on the crown of Minhyung’s head and softly strokes the nape of his neck.

“It’ll be okay, my love. We’ll be okay.” He whispers comfortingly.

Minhyung is too tired to disagree with him.

The next few days go by faster than what Minhyung would like. He was doing everything in his power to care for Donghyuck but the boy’s condition continued to deteriorate. He tried his best to keep a brave face for Donghyuck’s sake but they both knew it was fake.

During that time Minhyung had insisted that Donghyuck move back to his bedroom, even during the daytime. Donghyuck argued with him saying that if he tried to open the door while Minhyung rested then the sunlight would burn him.

Minhyung told him that he didn’t care. He could handle a little bit of fire if it meant that they could be together all the time.

One night, approximately one week after Donghyuck’s diagnosis, Minhyung and Donghyuck were lying in bed together. Donghyuck was resting his head against Minhyung’s chest and fiddling with Minhyung’s hand as he listened to the vampire recount an old poem from his human days.

“I didn’t really understand some of the words you were saying.” He admits sheepishly after Minhyung finishes. “But I could still tell it sounded beautiful.”

Minhyung chuckles and playfully taps Donghyuck’s nose with his finger. Suddenly, he peels himself away from Donghyuck and sits upright.

“What are you doing?” Donghyuck asks curiously.

“I want to give you something.” Minhyung announces as he reaches behind to his neck to untie something.

“Your necklace? But you never take it off!”

“I know. When I was a human, before I became a solider, my mother had this necklace made for me. She claimed it would protect me from harm’s way. I can’t really say how effective it is since I ended up dying anyway but I’ve kept it with me since. The fact that it’s still in one piece nearly four hundred years later stands testament to its tenacity.”

“So why are you giving it to me? It clearly has deep sentimental value to you.”

Minhyung smiles and leans forward to tie the necklace around Donghyuck’s neck. “Because, for a long time this was the only reminder I had of my humanity. But now that I have you, I don’t need it anymore.”

When Minhyung completes his tasks he grabs Donghyuck’s hands with his own and rests his forehead against the latter’s.

“Thank you.” Donghyuck murmurs as he pulls Minhyung in for a warm embrace.

Minhyung wishes he could hold onto this moment forever but as Donghyuck’s ribs press into his chest he could already feel it slipping through his fingers like sand.

“Minhyung?” Donghyuck questions hesitantly after a few minutes.

“Hmm?”

“Can you take me somewhere?”

“Where do you want to go?”

“The hilltop?” Donghyuck answers with a cough at the end of his sentence.

Minhyung gently pats Donghyuck’s back but frowns at him. “You know we can’t go outside, you’re too ill for that.”

“Yes, but I think that the fresh air will suit me. It’s not going to change the fact that I’m going to… _please_ Minhyung. You know that I’ve always been one with nature. I just want to sit in my favourite place in the world, one last time. That’s all I’m asking.”

Minhyung looks at Donghyuck and notices the ashy colour of his face. His once chubby cheeks had completely sunken into his face giving him an almost skeletal appearance. He no longer had the strength to even walk anymore at this point, he was by no means in _any_ condition to leave the house but somehow when Minhyung looked into his begging eyes he knew he was going to cave.

“Where are your sweaters? You need to be huddled up.”

Not long after that the two set off on their journey. Donghyuck, dressed in at least four layers, rests comfortably on Minhyung’s back as Minhyung piggybacks him to their special spot.

“This reminds of me the night we met.” Donghyuck reminisces fondly.

Minhyung nearly chokes up. That night felt like so long ago. How he _wishes_ he could go back in time and meet Donghyuck all over again.

Once they reach their destination, Minhyung gently places Donghyuck onto the ground in between his legs and wraps his arms around his stomach. Donghyuck leans back into Minhyung’s embrace and smiles as he watches the overview of his lifelong home.

Minhyung on the other hand chooses to watch the serene expression on Donghyuck’s face. He’s suddenly reminded of the words of his maker.

_Minhyung I’ve been thinking, you’ve been alive for four hundred years. Don’t you think it’s time you created your own vampire?_

At the time he was convinced that that was never going to be an option because Donghyuck was too precious to him but now that he was faced with the _actual_ possibility of losing him, it didn’t seem so unthinkable anymore.

“Let me turn you.” He declares impulsively.

“What?” Donghyuck questions in a raspy voice.

“I’ll feed you my blood so once you die you will wake up as a vampire. It has to be on the same day though so I’ll need to feed you every day.”

“Minhyung… _no._ How could you even suggest that?”

“Because I love you? I can’t stand the idea of spending an eternity without you. I can’t do it.”

Donghyuck sighs and shakes his head. “I know. I understand, if I were you I would feel the same way. But you have to understand something about me, I could never be a vampire. Being a vampire means that I will become a predator of humans and that goes against everything that my father ever taught me. I’ve dedicated my life to saving lives, how can I suddenly transition into taking them?”

“But you don’t _have_ to kill people. I would be your maker, I could teach you control. You could live on an animal-only diet. Trust me, I can help you!” Minhyung says desperately.

Donghyuck stares at Minhyung pitifully. “Minhyung, please. Respect my wishes.”

Minhyung slumps his shoulders and turns his head away. Donghyuck is right. He would never make it as a vampire, he was too virtuous for the vampire lifestyle.

Minhyung’s train of thought is interrupted when he feels Donghyuck suddenly start to shake. He immediately focuses his attention on the human when he realises that he seemed to be throwing up.

How is that possible though when he was too weak to eat the oats Minhyung tried to feed him earlier?

That’s when the smell of metal fills his nostrils and when Minhyung discovers that the younger was vomiting blood.

“Donghyuck?! Are you alright? What’s going on?!”

Donghyuck doesn’t reply and instead rolls away from Minhyung and onto his back.

Minhyung watches fearfully as Donghyuck’s chest heavily moves up and down. He’s clearly battling to breathe and Minhyung doesn’t know what to do.

“Minhyung.” Donghyuck wheezes.

Minhyung immediately moves himself to where Donghyuck is lying and cups his cheek into his palm.

“Yes, my love? What’s happening to you?”

“I-I’m sorry. I’ve been lying to you. I could feel myself getting weaker with each day and I didn’t want to worry you. A-and truthfully I didn’t want to spoil our time together. I felt it when I woke up this morning. Today’s the day.” Donghyuck breathes out slowly.

_This isn’t happening. It’s too soon. He was supposed to have at least another week!_

Minhyung looks down in horror and notices Donghyuck’s eyes starting to lose focus. He frantically leans forward to capture Donghyuck’s lips with his own and smiles bitterly when he feels Donghyuck’s mouth weakly responding.

His body is filled with dread when he starts to hear Donghyuck’s heart slowing down.

He only had a few seconds left.

So Minhyung makes his decision.

When he pulls away from the kiss he looks into Donghyuck’s eyes with an almost maniacal expression on his face. 

“My sweet Donghyuck. Forgive me. I’ve never loved anyone the way that I’ve loved you and I never _will_ love anyone as much as I love you. Which is why…I’m choosing to be selfish.”

“What do you”-

Before Donghyuck can finish his sentence though he’s immediately shut up by the sight of Minhyung’s glowing crimson eyes. His eyes start to brim with tears once he finally realises Minhyung’s intention.

Lacking the strength, and quite frankly the will to fight back, Donghyuck remains motionless as he watches in disappointment as Minhyung uses his fangs to bite himself in the wrist.

“I love you.” Minhyung simply says before he shoves his open wound into Donghyuck’s mouth.

Donghyuck shakes his head violently as he tries to stop himself from swallowing the intoxicating liquid but it’s impossible when his mouth is being flooded with it.

After a few seconds Minhyung pulls his wrist away and uses the same hand to wipe away the matted hair on Donghyuck’s damp forehead.

“Minhyung, how could you?” Donghyuck chokes out with an expression of betrayal splashed across his face.

Minhyung, too ashamed to say anything, remains silent and watches through bloody tears as his soulmate’s eyes flicker shut, indicating that his human life was drawing to an end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: If you reread previous chapters, my replies to comments and even the summary itself, I’ve never actually stated that Donghyuck is dead, just that Mark is very traumatised by losing him. And yes, losing him can mean a variety of things, not only death! 
> 
> Although hey, maybe he is dead? Find out soon in the next flashback chapter of I'm Yours!! :)


	7. VII

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas my dear readers! After a shocking twist last week, we’re back to our current day storyline! Mark and Haechan’s relationship here is kind of in that ‘we’re dating but we haven’t said it out loud yet” phase.

**Year 2018**

**“** So these past few nights have been fun but my family’s coming back into town today.” Haechan says as he nuzzles Mark’s shoulder.

“And?”

“And, we can’t exactly be hanging out here in my bedroom every night. My mom would never allow it and do you know how scandalous it would be for my younger siblings? I’d never hear the end of it.”

“So what are you suggesting?”

Haechan excitedly sits up. “Let’s go to your place. I’ve never been there and unless you live in a mortuary, I can’t think of a reason why not.”

“I don’t know, it’s kind of risky.” Mark eventually says after a long pause before he rolls out of bed to put his coat on.

“Are you already leaving?” Haechan asks with a pout on his face. “It won’t be daylight for at least another two hours!”

“I know but I’m already playing a dangerous game by coming up to your room every night. The VDC could catch onto this really fast and then we’d really be screwed. I really shouldn’t be here at _all_ but curse you and those wretched thighs of yours.”

“It’s from dancing.” Haechan says in a playful tone.

“You’ll have to show me a routine sometime.” Mark says while he leans down to capture Haechan’s lips with his own.

After a few seconds they pull apart and Haechan, with his eyes closed, waits patiently as Mark softly pecks his forehead.

“I’ll see you tonight.”

“Don’t keep me waiting.” Haechan huffs.

“I won’t.” Mark promises.

Haechan waits a few minutes before he opens his eyes only to be welcomed by loneliness. He hates to watch Mark leave so he never does.

Ignoring the painful pang in his chest, he leans over to switch off his bedside lamp and settles himself comfortably under the duvet.

The sooner he falls asleep, the sooner he can see Mark again.

**_______________________________**

When Mark is finally outside, he glances up to where Haechan's bedroom window is and waits for the light to go off. Once they do he lets out a yearning sigh and starts his miserable walk home.

A few steps into his journey he suddenly hears the noise of footsteps crunching. He immediately stops and frowns when he realises that the footsteps also stop.

From his peripheral vision he spots two shadowy figures dressed in black trying to hide themselves behind the corner.

It’s almost sad how easy they make it.

Mark instantly flashes himself behind the two figures and smirks.

“Good evening, gentlemen. How can I be of assistance?”

The two men startle and immediately turn around to face him. They were both tall, incredibly attractive, blonde men with one of the men having several painful looking piercings in his ear.

The one with the piercings awkwardly clears his throat and straightens his back. “Good evening, Mr Lee. My name is Nakamoto Yuta and I am an agent from the VDC. This is my partner, Dong Sicheng.”

“ _Business_ partner _.”_ The other, Sicheng he’s assuming, emphasises.

“Yes, _business_ partner.” Yuta repeats mockingly while rolling his eyes.

“I see.” Mark purses his lips. “So to what pleasure do I owe this visit?”

“Nothing to worry about Mr Lee”-

“Mark. You can call me Mark.”

“All right then, _Mark._ As I was saying, there’s nothing to worry about. We’re just doing our standard check-ins with all the current vampire residents of Seoul.” Yuta explains.

Mark raises an eyebrow. “Is that so? Because in all my years living here I’ve never once had a ‘check-in’ from you guys.”

“It’s something new we’re trying out. I don’t suppose you’ve heard of the murder that happened around here a couple of weeks ago?” Yuta asks sombrely.

“A _murder?_ In _Seoul_? That’s almost unheard of! But wait, why are you two concerning yourselves about a murder? I didn’t realise the VDC also moonlights as a detective agency.”

“The person who was murdered was a vampire.” Sicheng answers with a grim expression on his face.

“Really? Who would do such a horrendous thing?”

Yuta narrows his eyes suspiciously. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out.”

“It happened in an abandoned park where there were no witnesses. We’re trying to get information by questioning all the vampires in the area but no one seems to know who the victim was or who could have even turned him. I don’t suppose you know anything?” Sicheng asks as he uses a dainty finger to flick away a stray hair from his forehead.

“Well this is the first I’m hearing of _any_ of this so I’m afraid I don’t have any information. But if I hear any news I’ll be sure to pass it on.” Marks says while he tries to slither past the two vampires.

Before he can pass though, Yuta firmly grips his shoulder. “One more thing, Mark. What were you doing coming out of that human’s house?”

Mark gulps and slowly turns his head back to face Yuta’s harsh gaze.

“I’m his bodyguard. He works in a very questionable diner in a sketchy part of town so he hired me to walk him home every night.”

“That doesn’t explain why you’re leaving his house at nearly 3am.” Yuta says in an accusatory tone.

Mark takes a deep breath. _Relax, you prepared for this. Just remember the lines you practised_.

“He also pays me to wait with him while he falls asleep. He’s a…very paranoid young man.”

Mark instantly feels guilty about lying about the nature of his and Haechan’s relationship. Obviously, it was for his safety but pretending to just be _acquaintances_ with Haechan, a person he cared deeply about, left an uncomfortable feeling in his chest.

Yuta smirks at Mark knowingly while Sicheng on the other hand looks like he’s done with Yuta’s theatrics and just wants to go home.

“I see.” Yuta eventually says, letting go of Mark’s shoulder. “Well then I guess we shall leave you to enjoy the rest of your evening. Remember to let us know if you get any useful information. Come on, my love. We’re leaving.”

“Sicheng. At work you call me _Sicheng.”_ Sicheng whines as Yuta grabs his arm to whisk him off into the alluring darkness.

Mark waits until he’s completely certain that they’ve gone before he flashes himself back to Haechan’s house. He climbs up the wall to where Haechan’s bedroom window is and silently pushes it open. He scowls when he realises that the younger obviously failed to lock it after he left but he supposes it wouldn’t matter anymore.

“Haechan. Wake up.” Mark calls out as he gently shakes the sleeping boy.

“Nng, Mark? S’that you? Haechan mumbles drowsily.

“Yes. We have to leave now, get up.”

Haechan immediately springs up. “Oh my god. Did I sleep the entire day away? Fuck, I need to get to work!”

“Relax, it’s only been half an hour since I left.”

“Oh thank god.” Haechan exclaims, flopping back unceremoniously onto the bed

“So I was just thinking about what you said earlier.”

“That you should let me bleach your hair cos you’d look really hot as a blonde?”

“No, about that thing you said about coming to my apartment. We should do that. Like right now.” Mark leans over to pick Haechan up from the bed earning some light arm punching and groaning on behalf of the latter.

When Mark places Haechan back onto the ground he retaliates by stomping his foot onto the ground childishly.

“Mark, seriously? By the time we get to your apartment the sun will be up anyway. Why can’t this wait until tonight?”

Mark sighs deeply. “I didn’t want to stress you out but I was ambushed by two VDC agents right after I left your place.”

“ _What?”_

“I-it’s no big deal, alright? I managed to get rid of them for now but it won’t be long before they put two and two together. It’s safer for you at my apartment because my windows block out the sun which means that I can protect you during the daytime.”

“What the fuck, Mark?” Haechan growls as he starts to throw his clothes into his backpack. “Why the hell didn’t you invite me there sooner then? Instead I had to sit around like a desperate sap waiting for my mosquito prince to arrive.”

“Mosquito? I preferred it when you thought I was a bat.”

“You’re lucky I haven’t called you a leech yet.” Haechan warns as he crouches down to find his matching left sock underneath the bed.

Mark makes a mental note to himself: A sleep deprived Haechan is _not_ a happy Haechan.

“Anyway, the reason why I never brought you back to my apartment was because vampires can’t enter a human’s home. You and your family are residents of this house which means that the only way a vampire can come inside is through an invitation from one of you. My apartment can be entered by any vampire. I can protect you myself for now but we need to come up with a plan for the long run.”

“Give me your apartment.” Haechan says sarcastically as he slumps his backpack over his shoulder.

Mark stays silent for a few moments as he mulls it over. Truthfully speaking, making Haechan the owner of his apartment sounded like a _great_ idea.

“Hellooo, Mark? Are we leaving or not?”

“Oh, you’re done? Let’s go.”

**_______________________________**

Once they arrive back at Mark’s apartment, Haechan doesn’t even try to look around and instead heads straight to the bedroom. He throws his backpack to the corner of the room and stares at the king-sized bed placed in the centre of the room and snorts.

“What?” Mark asks as he enters the room.

“Nothing. Okay, fine there was a part of me that thought you maybe slept in a coffin.”

Mark awkwardly clears his throat. “Yes, well thanks to my specially fitted windows that block out UV rays, I don’t have to do that…anymore.”

Haechan has more questions but he’s also really tired. He leaps onto the beds and sighs contently when he realises how soft it is. He leans back and stretches his limbs out comfortably.

He can definitely see himself getting used to this arrangement.

“What are you going to tell your parents?” Mark asks.

“I’ll send a message to my mom in the morning saying that I’m staying with a friend who lives near campus to work on a project. As long as it’s to do with school, she won’t question it.”

“I see.” A few moments of silence go by before Mark eventually asks, “Are you warm enough? Do you want an extra blanket?”

He waits for Haechan to answer but when he doesn’t he takes a closer look at the boy and realises that he has already fallen asleep.

Smiling softly to himself he crawls into the unoccupied space next the sleeping human and wraps his arms around him.

Haechan fits into him like a missing puzzle piece. It’s a different feeling than when he used to cuddle with Donghyuck but it still feels just as perfect.

Maybe, this isn’t such a terrible thing after all. Haechan may look like Donghyuck but he isn’t a replacement. They’re two separate people with distinct personalities and unique life experiences. Haechan makes him feel happy in a way that’s completely different from Donghyuck but it doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily better or worse.

Mark always figured that you only get one soulmate in your lifetime but perhaps things are different when your lifetime is an eternity…

**_______________________________**

The first thing Haechan notices when he wakes up is that he’s cold. No, cold isn’t the right word, he’s _freezing_. He turns to his right and notices that Mark is fast asleep next to him with his arms tightly wound around his waist.

The man gave good cuddles, Haechan had to admit, but damn was he lacking in body heat.

After a few minutes of awkwardly wriggling around Haechan finally manages to free himself and tries to stealthily make his way to the bathroom when he suddenly finds himself slipping on the squeaky clean marble floor.

Upon hearing Haechan’s fall and subsequent colourful language, Mark finally rouses from his sleep.

“Haechan? What’s going on?” He calls out.

“Why are your floors so damn slippery?” Haechan groans as he sits up and rubs his hip.

Mark instantly flashes himself to where Haechan was and helps bring him to his feet.

“Are you alright?” Mark’s eyes clearly show his concern.

“Yes, I’m fine. I’m not a china doll, okay? You don’t always have to be so worried about me.”

“I can’t help it. You’re precious to me.”

Haechan quickly turns away to hide his bright red face. “W-whatever. I’ve got an afternoon lecture I can’t miss and then I’ve got to get to work. I’ll, uh, see you at the diner?”

Mark smiles fondly and gently pulls Haechan around to face him. “Of course. Have a great day today, sweetie.”

Haechan is too mesmerised by Mark’s sheer beauty to even make fun of his cheesiness.

Throughout the day Haechan finds himself too distracted to concentrate on anything he does. He may as well have skipped his lecture because instead of focusing on Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning, he finds himself daydreaming about huddling under the sheets and snuggling into the slim, but still muscularly defined, arms of a pale boy with jet black hair whose laugh sounded brighter than a thousand stars in the night-time sky.

Oh he had it _bad._

A couple of hours later, about twenty minutes before Haechan’s shift is about to end, Mark walks into the diner with a black file in his hands.

Haechan instantly notices his presence and hastily drops off a hamburger to a clearly inebriated young businessman before rushing over to Mark’s table.

“Whatcha got there, Mr Grey? Anything I need to sign?” Haechan asks flirtatiously.

Mark frowns. “Actually, yes I do have something for you to sign. Also, my surname is Lee, you _know_ that.”

Haechan sighs exasperatedly. “I’m referencing a book about…never mind. What do you need me to sign?”

“The deed to my apartment.”

“Huh?”

“I’m making you the owner of my apartment. Don’t you remember what I told you last night about vampires being unable to enter into a human’s home?”

“Well, yeah but I didn’t _actually_ think you’d give me your house!” Haechan exclaims, perplexed.

“I know it’s an extreme measure but it makes perfect sense, especially now that the VDC know where you live. Listen, you live with your entire family so it’d be really easy for a vampire to compel one of them to invite them into your home which puts _you_ in serious danger. If you sign this document then you’d be the sole owner of my apartment, you’d be the only person allowed to invite vampires in. Speaking of which, are you wearing a piece of silver like I told you? The last thing we need is for you of all people to be compelled.”

“Of course, what do you take me for? I’ve got a silver toe ring on my left foot so say goodbye to any dreams of having a foot fetish.” Haechan proclaims proudly.

Mark raises an eyebrow. “ _A toe ring?”_

Haechan suddenly looks away and clears his throat. “Well I didn’t want to put it anywhere else in case it, you know, accidently touched you…”

Mark chuckles and shakes his head. “You’re kind of cute you know that?”

Haechan’s face heats up. “Shut up. Where do I sign?”

**_______________________________**

Later that evening, Haechan awkwardly fumbles with the key to Mark’s, no _his,_ apartment while Mark watches in amusement. After a few seconds he finally manages to turn the key and pushes the door open enthusiastically.

“Can you believe it?” He exclaims as he runs inside. “I’m nineteen and I own my own apartment!”

“Pretty impressive.” Mark agrees as he leans against the frame of the door.

“Why are you standing over”- Haechan suddenly stops and smiles mischievously. “ _Oh._ I get it. I have to invite you in, don’t I?”

Mark nods his head.

“A part of me thinks it would be funny to leave you out there for the rest of the night but there’s also another part of me that wants to make out with you and I have to say that those skinny jeans of yours are doing _wonders_ for your prospects.”

“Is that so?”

“Uh-huh. Mark Lee, do you want to come inside?” Haechan asks with his arms outstretched.

Mark grins and takes the step into Haechan’s arms. Haechan then throws them around Mark’s neck and pulls him down for a kiss.

Mark places his hands softly onto Haechan’s waist and slowly brings their bodies closer together.

“Hey, Mark?” Haechan calls out breathily after a couple of seconds.

“Yeah?”

“You’re kind of cute too.”

**_______________________________**

A few days later on a rare night off for Haechan, he finds himself alone. Mark was in the kitchen, drinking a blood bag. From the first day he moved in he refused to let Haechan watch him drink blood and yeah, Haechan loved to push Mark’s buttons but even _he_ could tell how serious the vampire’s tone was when he warned him not to interrupt him.

He figures it isn’t really a big deal, he’s fully aware of how difficult it must be to be constantly be around a human so he’s grateful for the amount of self-control Mark has around him and wouldn’t want to test fate either.

In the past couple of days that they’ve been together Mark has definitely opened up a lot to Haechan. He talked about his past as a human, what it was like for him as a freshly-turned vampire and all the horrible things he did whenever his bloodlust got the better of him.

It was quite a shock to hear about the things he did in the past purely because it just seemed so out of character for him - but it’s not like Haechan thought less of him. Ultimately, he’s a vampire and humans are his prey. It’s nice that he tries his best to not hurt people but if hunting humans is in his biological makeup then how can Haechan blame him if he slips up every now and then?

As long as he’s not killing people _on purpose_ then Haechan will always try to find a way to forgive him.

That being said, as much as Mark has bared his life for Haechan, there’s still one major thing that’s always been bothering him at the back of his mind.

Mark’s ex.

In all their time that they’ve known each other Mark has mentioned this guy once. It was obvious from his tone that he cared a great deal for this person but for some inexplicable reason he refused to talk about him.

Haechan could only assume that their breakup was messy but clearly Mark still had a lot of feelings for him. It’s not that Haechan was necessarily jealous per se…okay fine, he was jealous. _Extremely_ jealous. He’s never liked anyone as much as he’s liked Mark and the idea that he could still be in love with someone else _killed_ him.

And it’s not like he could do some Facebook stalking like a regular person. The only way he could get information about Mark’s ex is by asking Mark himself and anytime Haechan tried to subtly bring him up Mark would get all caged up. Even in the house there was no evidence of Mark’s ex _anywhere._

Except for maybe one thing.

You see, Haechan is actually quite observant. Mark has been pretty generous about letting Haechan use all of his things. There’s nothing in the apartment that’s hidden from him except for _one_ drawer located in Mark’s bedside table.

Mark claimed that it contained a very old family heirloom and he was worried that something could happen to it but Haechan was calling him out on his bullshit.

He knew that there was something in there that belonged to Mark’s ex, he could _feel_ it.

What Mark didn’t realise is that when you live with three other siblings, ‘privacy’ is a just word that exists in the dictionary. Haechan had _long_ learnt the skills of the trade when it came to breaking into people’s things which is why he was currently in their bedroom, fiddling with the drawer’s lock with a hair pin he stole from his sister.

Did he feel bad about invading Mark’s privacy? Kind of, but he knew he wouldn’t have peace of mind until he found out what was in that goddamn drawer and Mark was clearly never going to budge so here he was.

After a few seconds he finally hears the familiar click that he was searching for and grins. He quickly tosses the pin to the side and silently pulls the drawer open.

Honestly, Haechan didn’t really know what to expect going in but an old musty necklace and an ancient dust-covered painting certainly wasn’t it.

He picks up the necklace to examine it more closely. It was made out of some sort of rope and the pendant was a copper coloured circle. Haechan genuinely couldn’t see the appeal to it but maybe it had sentimental meaning to Mark? He should probably be more careful with it. He places it gently onto the floor next to him and picks up the painting next.

Haechan’s heart starts to race. This had to be it. The thing that will answer all of his questions. A painting of the man that broke Mark’s heart.

When Haechan flips the picture around and discovers what it is he nearly drops it onto the floor.

It was a painting of himself.

Did Mark have this done sometime after they met? It looked so old that he finds it hard to believe that it was made in this century. Not to mention that even though the boy in the picture clearly shared a physical resemblance to himself, there’s so many things about the picture that didn’t make sense at all.

Firstly, he was wearing clothes that looked like they were in fashion maybe five-hundred years ago.

Secondly, his hair. It was slightly longer than his and also it was extremely curly. Haechan’s own hair was on the wavy side but definitely not to _that_ extent. And to top it off it was coal-black. Haechan has prided himself on maintaining his perfect shade of caramel brown that was _custom_ mixed by his hairdresser so there’s no way that could be him in the painting.

Haechan starts to get an uneasy feeling in his stomach. He realises with a sinking heart that for the first time in his life, he was doubting Mark.

The room starts to spin and all he wants to do is _get out of there._

He gingerly places the painting and the necklace back into the drawer and shakily gets to his feet.

At that same moment Mark finally enters the room. “There you are, I thought you’d be in the living room. I wanted to ask you if you wanted me to make you some popcorn for movie night?” 

“ _Who the fuck is in the painting, Mark?”_

Mark’s face instantly drops. “What?”

“The painting. You know, the one you’ve been keeping in this forbidden drawer of yours?!”

Mark looks over Haechan’s shoulder and notices opened drawer and gasps. “You went through my stuff? After I _specifically_ asked you not to open that drawer? I mean seriously Haechan, I’ve been nothing but honest and open to you for the past few days and _this_ is you thank me? By encroaching on the _one_ thing I asked you not to?”

“Oh really? _That’s_ what you want to focus on? When you’ve got a hella disturbing painting of me that was clearly created before I was even _born?_ Who the fuck are you? Why are you in my life?”

Mark sighs heavily and unclenches his fist. “Look, I was going to tell you about all of this. I-I just didn’t know how to start the conversation.”

“Well consider the conversation started. Get to explaining. _Now_.”

“A long time ago I met this boy. His name was Donghyuck. He was my…everything. I didn’t know the meaning of the word love until I met him. He’s the one in the painting. I actually painted it myself a couple of decades after things ended between us.”

“What happened to him?” Haechan asks with tears welling up in his eyes.

Mark pauses and looks down. “H-he died. He had the plague and he didn’t make it.”

“So that was it? You fell in love with this guy and then he got sick? That’s the end?”

“…Not quite.”

Haechan narrows his eyes. “What do you mean?”

Mark squeezes his eyes shut. “I-I did something bad. I turned him into a vampire against his will.”

“You _what?”_

“I know, I know. It was a horrible thing to do, especially because I loved him so much but he was literally dying right in front of me. I had no time to think. Fuck, Haechan, if I could go back in time…I never would have did that to him. I was just so clouded with emotion that I”- Mark chokes up.

“Y-you’re fucking sick! How could you do that? And so what? You ruined his life and now you want to ruin mine? He probably hated you for what you did to him and so I’m just a carbon copy for what you couldn’t have?”

“ _No._ Listen to me Haechan, it’s true that my fascination started because you looked like Donghyuck but the truth is that it was never my intention to fall in love with you. Trust me, what happened with Donghyuck was _centuries_ ago and it has nothing to with _our_ relationship. I-I made a lot of mistakes during my time with Donghyuck which I didn’t want to make with you. Please, just give me chance to prove myself to you.”

Haechan rubs his tear-stained cheeks. “I’m sorry Mark but I don’t think I can. This is just one lie too many. I’ll never be able to shake the idea that you’re only with me because of my face out of my head. I-I have to leave.”

Mark watches painfully as Haechan slips past him to race towards the front door. He waits until he hears the door slam before he falls to his knees and begins to sob.

**_______________________________**

How could he have been so stupid? Of course Mark didn’t love him, he’s just a substitute for his ex. Mark made it perfectly clear in the beginning of their relationship that he never wanted to date him but he was such an _idiot_ who couldn’t stop pursuing him that Mark eventually caved out of pity.

He’s so mad at Mark he doesn’t even care about the fact that it’s nearly 2am and he’s out in public by himself. If he’s being completely honest, it’s kind of a relief to finally be able to breathe without his ‘bodyguard’.

Who knows what else Mark could have been lying about? For all he knew Mark himself could have turned Cheeseburger Dude himself! There probably never was an attacker in the first place and he probably set the whole thing up just to get Haechan to trust him.

Asshole.

Because he’s so immersed in his own thoughts, when Haechan turns the next corner he nearly walks straight into a young girl with long bleached blonde tresses.

“Oh, sorry.” Haechan mumbles as he tries to walk past her.

But when Haechan takes a step to the side the girl, once again, intercepts him.

“Um. Do I know you?” Haechan asks. He’s _really_ not in the mood for this.

“No.” The girl says as she reaches behind her back.

“Then do you mind”-

Suddenly the girl slams something into his face. A surgical mask?

He tries to rip her hand away from him but for a girl of her build she was surprisingly strong. Like _seriously_ strong.

Almost…vampire-level strong?

After a few seconds of struggle Haechan’s vision starts to get blurry and his knees start to tremble.

What’s happening to him? Is this _chloroform?_

“I’m sorry, Haechan. I was ordered not to hurt you. I’m only doing this because I’m being blackmailed, please don’t take it personally.” The girl says with a sympathetic expression on her face.

Haechan can vaguely hear her voice but for some reason it feels like he’s underwater.

The last thing he remembers seeing before his vision going black are her outstretched arms waiting to catch him when he falls down.

**_______________________________**

Mark throws his lamp across the room and watches in satisfaction as it shatters into pieces. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. He knew that Haechan would be mad but not _this_ mad. What if he never forgave him? What if he wanted to break up with him?

It’s been centuries since he had a boyfriend and man, he’d completely forgotten how hard dating is. Not that he could blame Haechan for being pissed though, he could only imagine how devastated he must have been thinking that Mark was only dating him because he looked like Donghyuck.

If he only knew how much he _didn’t_ want to date someone who looked like his ex then he wouldn’t have stormed out of here the way he did.

Still, he has a right to want a bit of space so Mark figures he’ll let him cool off for the night and call him again tomorrow evening. Hopefully by then some of his wrath would have subsided and he can explain himself properly.

Mark sighs and flops onto Haechan’s side of the bed. It still smells like him. It’s been a good couple of days since Haechan moved in with him and a lot of his things still sat on his bedside table, like his phone charger for example.

He’s going to be so annoyed when he gets home and realises that he forgot it here.

Wait.

When he gets home.

Haechan is walking home right now, _by himself._

In less than two minutes Mark is already out on the street when he suddenly bumps into a familiar face.

“Joy? What are you doing here? Never mind, it can wait. I have to go do something right now.” Mark says as he races past her.

“If it’s protect your human boyfriend, you’re already too late.” Joy calls out, instantly causing Mark to halt in his tracks.

“What are you talking about?”

Joy’s face crumbles and Mark has to do a double take. In the all the years he’s known her, he has never seen Joy crack _once._ Whatever she’s about to say has to be truly dire for her to be having this kind of reaction.

“Promise you won’t be mad at me?” She asks fearfully.

“I promise. What’s going on?”

“Yeri was in charge of the store tonight when around 10pm she got an email from a blocked address. When she opened the email it automatically played a video for her.”

“What video?”

Joy wipes away a crimson tear. “I-it was a video of Wendy-unnie, tied to a chair with silver chain. Mark, s-someone kidnapped her!”

Mark feels a cold shiver run through his spine. Someone kidnapped Wendy? Wendy was a six-hundred year old vampire which meant that whoever must have taken her must have been older than her and _that_ truly was a terrifying thought because Wendy was one of the most powerful vampires he knew.

“What happened after Yeri opened the video?” Mark asks, placing a comforting hand onto Joy’s shoulder.

“S-she said that not even a minute later some guy broke into the store. He was wearing a Trump mask to conceal his identity but she could tell from his aura that he was a vampire. A really old one.”

Mark gulps. Could this be the guy he’s been searching for?”

“So how does this link up to Haechan? And how are we going to get Wendy back?”

“Mark, I’m so sorry! We didn’t have a choice! It was either our maker or your human! Please understand.”

Mark coldly removes his hand from Joy. “What did you do?”

“He told Yeri that if we wanted Wendy-unnie back, then we had to deliver Haechan to him, unharmed. So that’s what we did.”

“You did _what?_!”

“Mark, you don’t understand! That guy…h-he had an emblem of a two-headed snake on his collar.”

Mark takes a sharp intake of breath. The logo of the VDC? What the hell is going on?

“Yeri said he also said one more thing. It was a message for you.”

“What? What did he say?” Mark questions urgently

Joy takes a deep breath. “If you want your lover back, come and find me. You already know what I look like.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just when you thought things were going well between these two...  
> P.S I know my story is kind of all over the place and might seem confusing now but it's only because we're REALLY close to the climax. Gotta build that suspense, ya know? Also I might have a few plot twists still left up my sleeve and once those are revealed then everything is going to make sooo much sense, I swear.
> 
> I hope 😅


	8. VIII

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait but I needed some time to get back into the rhythm of writing after the Christmas break 😓 also no editing on this chap so please let me know of any weird mistakes I might have made.
> 
> Anyway, this chapter might seem cruel and maybe some of you are going to wonder why I even went down this road but the truth is that the conclusion of this chapter is a VERY important catalyst for the series of events that happen in the current day era.
> 
> p.s I know in a lot of vampire tv shows you have to drink human blood first to ‘complete the transition’ but for my fic’s sake, Donghyuck is fully fledged vampire from the moment he wakes up.

**Year 1344**

The first thing Donghyuck realises when he wakes up is that his head hurts. It sort of feels like someone smashed it against a hard boulder, _repeatedly._ He tries to open his eyes but soon realises that that too, is incredibly painful.

He vaguely hears a voice calling out his name but he genuinely doesn’t care about that right now. All he wants to do is go back to sleep to get rid of this horrifying headache.

And maybe get something to drink.

His throat is on _fire_ and he wouldn’t mind a sip of water at the moment but is he thirsty enough to get up from this position? He doesn’t know where he is but it’s very comfortable and kind of warm.

Maybe _too_ warm?

Donghyuck doesn’t understand why but his body is suddenly searing up and all he can think about is _quenching this forsaken thirst_ so that he can finally cool down again.

He tries to open his eyes again and finally manages to succeed this time. The first thing he notices is that he’s in his room, lying in his bed. For some reason though his home looks different, it looks clearer, more intricate. There are details in the ceiling that he’s never noticed before and was his house always this dusty? Every single dust particle suddenly stood out to him like a sore thumb.

“Donghyuck?”

Donghyuck turns his head towards the loud sound and finally realises that Minhyung was crouched down on the floor beside the bed and had been holding his hand the entire time.

“Minhyung? Is that you? Why do I feel so exhausted?” Donghyuck croaks out tiredly.

Minhyung instantly cups Donghyuck’s face in between his hands and squeezes his cheeks excitedly.

“Y-you’re okay! Oh my goodness, you woke up! You actually woke up!”

Donghyuck winces. Even though Minhyung _looked_ like he was speaking in a normal volume why did it feel like he was screaming directly into his ear? And why did Minhyung looks so handsome all of a sudden? Technically, he’s always been extraordinarily attractive in Donghyuck’s eyes but right now, even with crimson tears staining his cheeks, he looked more gorgeous than Donghyuck remembers.

He always thought that Minhyung had brown eyes but upon closer inspection he could suddenly see flecks of shimmering gold and ebony black randomly swimming around his iris. His cheekbones were even _more_ defined than before and Donghyuck could now easily count each individual glistening hair strand that resided on Minhyung’s hairline.

“Donghyuck?” Minhyung calls out urgently.

“Huh?” Donghyuck replies, instantly snapping out of his daze.

“I asked you what your last memory is.”

“My last memory?” Donghyuck murmurs softly. He tries to think back but for some reason all of his memories seem foggy all of a sudden. They don’t even feel like real memories, just snapshots of someone else’s life.

“I don’t know. Thinking makes my head hurt. May I have something to drink, please? I feel like I’d be able to concentrate better if I could just get rid of this itch in my throat.”

Donghyuck watches in confusion as Minhyung’s expression changes to a much grimmer one.

“Minhyung?” Donghyuck probes.

Minhyung squeezes his eyes and lightly begins to quiver. “Donghyuck…that itch you’re talking about. It’s not going to go away even if you drink water.”

“What are you talking about?”

Minhyung snaps his eyes open and looks at Donghyuck with an expression of guilt. “Do you not remember? You were ill.”

Hearing that immediately strikes a chord within Donghyuck. The image of white roses instantly flash through his mind. Suddenly, a series of random memories flicker through his brain. Getting sick, taking medicine, piggyback rides from Minhyung, sitting on their favourite hilltop and finally…

Donghyuck quickly springs up from his bed. “ _What did you do to me?”_

Minhyung tries to grab Donghyuck’s hands but Donghyuck harshly slaps them away. “Donghyuck, _I’m sorry._ I wasn’t in my right mind, you were dying right in front of me!”

“So you did the very thing I asked you not to do? Oh Minhyung, why, why, _why?_ I told you my reasons for not wanting to be a vampire! How am I supposed to live with myself now?”

“Learning control takes time but I’ll be there for you every step of the way! I’ll teach you how to drink from animals and how to not let your bloodlust control your life. It won’t be an easy nor a short journey but I’ll take it with you. Believe me Donghyuck, this isn’t what I wanted for you either but I acted impulsively and now we both have to live with that decision. Please, just let me help you.” Minhyung finally stops and stares at Donghyuck desperately, silently beginning for forgiveness.

Donghyuck looks back at Minhyung with pained eyes for a few minutes before he finally sighs dejectedly and slumps his shoulders.

“Okay.”

“Really?”

“You’ve left me with no choice, my love.” Donghyuck replies hollowly.

Minhyung shamefully looks away and waits patiently for Donghyuck to get out of bed. They soon leave the house after that and silently make their way deep into the woods where they couldn’t be found by humans.

Eventually, Minhyung stops and indicates for Donghyuck to do the same. Donghyuck closes his eyes and strains his ears to hear the reason for Minhyung’s pause when he suddenly hears the sound of something rustling in a bush not far from them.

“Do you hear that?” Minhyung whispers in a hushed tone.

“It’s hopping. A rabbit?”

Minhyung nods his head approvingly. “Good job. Now a rabbit isn’t actually going sate you very much but for a starter it’ll be fine. So first you’re going to sneak up on it and then as soon as you can, snap the neck. Remember, the key here is stealth.”

Minhyung waits for Donghyuck to respond but he remains silent. Minhyung places his hand on Donghyuck’s shoulder which causes him to finally admit, “Minhyung I don’t think I can kill a rabbit.”

Minhyung pats his shoulder comfortingly. “Yes, you can.”

“No, I can’t! It’s a living creature, I’d feel too guilty.”

Minhyung sighs. “I understand your feelings but listen Donghyuck, it’s either the rabbit or a human. What’s it going to be?”

Donghyuck pleads with Minhyung silently with his eyes which causes the latter to falter and pull him in for a hug.

“I’m sorry.” Minhyung whispers into Donghyuck’s hair. “This is all my fault. You’re here for an eternity, this is your life now. There’s no one around except me and I’ll always love you, no matter what you do. You’ve got a beautiful soul Donghyuck, don’t let something like this break you.”

Donghyuck tightly grips onto Minhyung’s shirt and nods his head. He takes a deep breath and slowly turns around towards the direction of the rabbit. He looks back at Minhyung and once the elder gives him the go-ahead, takes a springing leap forward and races into the darkness.

Minhyung quickly trails after him and hides behind nearby tree to carefully watch over him. Donghyuck instantly spots the rabbit and positions himself so that he was in the animal’s blind spot. He seems to hesitate for a few seconds before he suddenly pounces viciously on the creature.

Minhyung waits until he hears the infamous cracking sound before he flashes himself to Donghyuck’s side to rub his hand soothingly along his nape.

“It’s okay, you did well for your first hunt. I know it’s difficult but I can promise you that it gets better with time. “

Donghyuck doesn’t respond but Minhyung can already see red tear droplets staining the ground underneath them.

They hunt a few more woodland critters after that before eventually Donghyuck manages to convince Minhyung that his thirst had been quenched. Minhyung had his doubts but he could easily see the tortured look on the younger’s face so he caves and allows them to go home.

Once they’re back in the cottage, Minhyung watches as Donghyuck seats himself in the large wooden chair in the living room with a deep frown on his face.

“Are you alright? How do you feel?”

Donghyuck sighs and leans back into the chair. “Exactly how you think I would feel.”

Minhyung casts his gaze down. “I see. If it’s any consolation, it does get better with time.”

“I hope so.” Donghyuck replies wistfully as he closes his eyes.

A few moments of silence pass between them before Minhyung decides to ask the question he’s been dreading since the moment Donghyuck woke up.

“Donghyuck?”

Donghyuck hums in acknowledgment but doesn’t open his eyes.

“Can I ask you something? Something…I may not want to know the answer to?”

Donghyuck opens his eyes and looks at Minhyung expectantly. “What is it?”

“D-do you hate me? For what I did to you? I turned you against your will for my own selfish reasons and I fear that I may have lost your respect as a result. If you did I’d understand of course but…”

Donghyuck looks at Minhyung sympathetically and pats his lap. Minhyung obeys and kneels down onto the floor beside Donghyuck’s feet and lays his head down onto the former’s lap. He sighs in content when Donghyuck uses the moment as an opportunity to comb through Minhyung’s luscious mane with his fingers.

“Of course not, how could you even think that? I can’t say I’m not disappointed in you but I am empathetic you know. When my mother died, it felt like my whole world came to a stop and then when my father joined her well…I think that if I had your powers I might have made a similar choice.”

“You say that but when I think of the way that I’ve wronged you, it makes me wonder how you could possibly still love me.” Minhyung comments glumly.

Donghyuck uses his fingers to lift Minhyung’s face to look at him directly. “What you did was an act of love, not hatred. I’m not saying that it’s okay, I’m saying that I forgive you. Minhyung, if you love me even a _fraction_ of how much I love you then you’d understand me when I say that love is a mystifying thing. Just like you told me in the woods that you’d love me no matter what I did, the same principle applies to you.”

Minhyung throws his arms around Donghyuck and rests his head comfortably on the younger’s lap. “I don’t deserve you. A monster like me doesn’t deserve angel like you.”

Donghyuck laughs but there’s no emotion. “Angel? I am no angel, Minhyung. If you call yourself a monster then that must make me one too.”

Minhyung doesn’t reply after that. He can only hope that through his guidance Donghyuck retains his sanity and doesn’t succumb to the bloodlust, like he himself has done countless of times.

Not long after that Minhyung determines the sun will be up soon and suggests that they head to bed. Donghyuck complies and follows Minhyung back to the bedroom.

“So I’ll never be able to walk out in the daylight ever again?” Donghyuck questions longingly as he pulls the thin blanket away from the bed.

“I’m afraid not.”

“How will I see my flowers?”

“They’ll still be there at night.” Minhyung replies as he strokes the back of Donghyuck’s head.

“I’ll never be able to walk down to the village, see my friends, chat to merchants or enjoy a nap underneath the trees where the sunlight creeps through the gaps of the branches onto my face again.” Donghyuck notes melancholically.

Minhyung grimaces sympathetically. “The sun is now our greatest enemy. I know it’s difficult to adjust to but over time you’ll grow to love the moon just as much. As for humans, well, it’d be for the best if you avoided them for now. Humans are just temptations, especially for you right now. Not to mention they eventually die.”

“What about my brother?” He’s my twin for heaven’s sake! We may look as different as night and day but he’s still the other part of my soul. Am I really never to speak to him again? My gods, he’s the only living member of my family!” Donghyuck exclaims loudly as he dramatically flops onto the bed.

“No one is saying that you never have to speak to him again. You need time to control your bloodlust before you can meet him or else the consequences could be dire.” Minhyung briefly pauses to allow Donghyuck to grasp the severity of his warning before he continues. “Until that moment arrives though you have me, for an eternity. Remember on the first night I spent here when you woke up and you thought that I’d left you?”

Donghyuck nods his head.

“I promised you that as long as you exist, I’ll be here for you. I meant that I’ll always love you, I’ll be here when you need me and I will always _unquestionably_ protect you from any harm, be it physical or mental. Do you believe me?”

“Yes.” Donghyuck replies without hesitation.

“Good.”

They carried on like this for the next three nights. Donghyuck had grown to be capable of hunting deer on his own but unfortunately each time Minhyung took Donghyuck out to hunt, he would always come out with a disturbed expression on his face, no matter how much Minhyung prayed he wouldn’t.

Minhyung sincerely wishes that Donghyuck could nail the animal-only diet right from the beginning so that he won’t have to spend an eternity with a guilty conscience. His soul was too innocent to survive that.

But maybe wishes are called wishes for a reason, they rarely turn into reality.

On the fourth night after Donghyuck had been turned, Minhyung wakes up in bed, alone. He hears a strange scuffling noise coming from outside and upon realising that Donghyuck was nowhere in sight, instantly flashes himself there.

What he witnesses once he arrives utterly breaks his non-beating heart.

Donghyuck, lying on top of a human male, desperately snapping his fangs towards his throat.

The man tries to thrash around in an attempt to free himself but Donghyuck is clearly the much stronger of the two and easily holds him down onto the ground.

“Donghyuck?! What are you doing? This goes against everything we talked about!” Minhyung yells, not wanting to move in case it causes the younger to act irrationally.

“Yes, but I’m _hungry!”_ Donghyuck snarls savagely with saliva dribbling down his chin.

Minhyung slowly takes a step forward. “That’s okay. Just get up and I’ll take you to the woods to get something to eat.”

Donghyuck finally snaps and turns his head towards him. “Don’t you get it? Eating rabbits and squirrels and, my gods, even _deer_ doesn’t satisfy me. _This_ is what I need, Minhyung. Just a taste to lift my strengths up. I’ll just take one little sip to get rid of this incessant _itch_ that never seems to disappear and then I’ll stop. I swear, I’ll stop!”

Minhyung feels a tear drippling down his cheek. “That’s how it always starts. Donghyuck, as your maker I _forbid_ you from harming that man. Let him go and walk towards me.”

“But”-

“ _Now.”_

Donghyuck finds himself reluctantly standing up and watches his feet in mixture of irritation and awe as they automatically trod their way to Minhyung's position.

The human immediately scoots himself away from the vampire duo and clutches his chest fearfully. Minhyung uses that moment to look at the man more carefully and realises with shock that his face looked familiar.

“Seojoon-ssi?”

“Don’t say my name! I don’t wish to be cursed!” The man spits out.

“What are you doing here?” Minhyung questions as he drags Donghyuck to stand behind him.

“I remembered. I remembered what you did to me so I ran up here to warn Donghyuck because he nursed me back to health after _you_ attacked me and I was worried that something could happen to him. But I’m already too late, aren’t I? You’ve already ruined him.”

Minhyung feels a cold shiver spread throughout his body. Was the human right? Has he really ruined Donghyuck?

“You do _not_ speak of my maker like that!” Donghyuck shouts from over Minhyung’s shoulder. “Even if I can’t hurt you anymore I bet that I could round up some men from the village who would be _more_ than willing”-

“Donghyuck, please. Hush now.” Minhyung orders sternly.

Donghyuck remains quiet but scowls at Minhyung from behind his back.

“You turned him into a demon like yourself. You’ve been sent by Lucifer himself, haven’t you?”

Minhyung narrows his eyes disapprovingly. “If you value your life then I would suggest that you stop talking and leave.”

“Gladly!” Seojoon replies as he shakily lifts himself off the ground and flees into the unknown.

Minhyung waits until he can no longer hear his footsteps before he sighs and turns to face Donghyuck.

“What _was_ that? I thought we agreed that you were going only drink from animals?”

Donghyuck rolls his eyes mockingly. “Oh please Minhyung when are you going to realise that it’s not working? Vampires need human blood, it’s in our biology. How long did you think I was going to last on _animal blood?”_

“Donghyuck, I understand that it’s difficult but what’s your alternative? Feeding on humans?”

“Yes!” Donghyuck replies stubbornly. “I would have been fine with just a sip.”

“You would have lost control, trust me. You could have _killed_ him”

“No, I wouldn’t have.” Donghyuck argues back.

“Yes, you could have.” Minhyung insists.

“No, I wouldn’t have. I wouldn’t have, I wouldn’t…” Donghyuck suddenly chokes up and drops to his knees.

Minhyung immediately places his hand onto the younger’s back.

“Oh my god.” Donghyuck whispers in horror. “I _was_ going to kill that man! If you didn’t get there in time…”

Minhyung shakes his head. “But I _did_ get there in time.”

“And what if you don’t the next time? What’s happening to me, how could I have threatened to kill someone? Someone that I once nursed back to health? I was so clouded by my hunger that I completely forgot about all of my morals!”

“Don’t worry about it, my love. You’re just feeling extremely anxious, it’s something that all new vampires go through. Your emotions are heightened now, everything that you feel is magnified by a thousand in comparison to your human days.” Minhyung comforts soothingly.

“I don’t like it, I don’t like it! I don’t like the person I’ve become! I don’t feel sane, I feel like my body’s been possessed by something and I feel like I’m a stander by watching helplessly as my life unravels before my very eyes.”

Minhyung doesn’t know what else he could possibly say to relieve the young vampire of his misery.

He remembers that when he himself was turned he definitely battled with the bloodlust but other than that he didn’t actually hate being a vampire. He was excited to have a second chance at life and to travel the world but from the looks and sounds of it, Donghyuck most certainly did not feel the same.

How did Dongyoung manage to convince him to change his mind? To make him want to stay alive even though he hated drinking human blood? He had to find out what his maker’s secret was because whatever he’s been telling Donghyuck clearly has had no effect on the boy’s opinion towards vampirism.

“Listen, Donghyuck. I think it’s time you met _my_ maker, Kim Dongyoung. He’s nine-hundred years old so there’s no one better to explain to you the ins and outs of being a vampire than him. He can tell you what your future is going to be like.”

Donghyuck pauses. He’s always been curious about Minhyung’s maker. The truth is that he’s always been a bit jealous of their relationship because he could always hear how fond Minhyung was of the older man whenever he spoke of him.

“O-okay. I’m willing to do anything at this point.”

Minhyung lets out a sigh of relief and briefly hugs him. “Thank the heavens. Now hurry, we need to leave so that we do not get caught in the sun.”

They immediately depart and upon arriving back at Minhyung’s former home, they’re instantly greeted by a waiting Dongyoung at the front door.

“Minhyung.” The elder vampire calls out fondly. “I thought I sensed your presence. Who have you brought back with you?”

Minhyung clears his throat. “Hyung, this is Donghyuck. I turned him.”

Dongyoung raises his eyebrows and for a moment Donghyuck worries that he might disapprove of him but before he realises it he’s suddenly being pulled into an enormous bear hug.

“Welcome home, Donghyuck. I didn’t think Minhyung would ever pro-create but here you are. I can see why he’s so enamoured by you, you’re one of the most visually appealing creatures I’ve seen in my entire life and believe me, I’ve been around for a very long time.”

“Thank you.” Donghyuck murmurs shyly.

“Minhyung.” Dongyoung turns his head to face his progeny. “I see you’ve even given him your precious necklace. When was Donghyuck turned?”

“Four nights ago.” Minhyung replies.

“ _Four nights ago?”_ Dongyoung repeats in disbelief. “You waited four nights to tell me that there’s a new member of our family?!”

Minhyung nervously bites his lip and glances worriedly at Donghyuck. “I was worried that meeting you for the first time would stress him out and I wanted to make his transition as easy as possible. My plan was to bring him over once he’d mastered his bloodlust. He’s gotten really good at hunting animals, he can even hunt deer on his own now.”

“Animals? He’s a freshly turned vampire he can’t be drinking from animals. Animal blood is for older vampires who can control themselves around humans. If he’s drinking animal blood he’s still probably feeling thirsty which makes it even _more_ dangerous for him to be around humans.”

“I-I know. But Donghyuck’s never killed someone before so I’d rather teach him the animal-blood diet now so that he’ll never learn to crave after human blood. The reason why I’ve always slipped up is because I know how addictive human blood is but if he never gets the taste then he’ll never have to suffer like I did.”

Dongyoung sighs and looks at Minhyung pitifully. “It doesn’t work like that, my son. Human blood to vampires is what water is to humans. We can’t survive without it. You can try as much as you want to get used to animal blood but that quench for human blood will _never_ go away. It’s our innate nature, you’ll never be able to resist it.”

“So how do you cope with the guilt?” Donghyuck meekly pipes in. “Doesn’t it terrify you to know that you’re murdering innocent people?”

Dongyoung turns his head back to Donghyuck. “Well, maybe in the past. But over the years you realise that it doesn’t really matter. Who even remembers the person that I killed five-hundred years ago today? I have to survive and humans are my only source of energy. At the end of the day they’re the prey and I’m the predator, I’m only adhering to the rules of nature by feeding on them. You’re young and you’re still attached to your human ways but that needs to stop now. You’re not a human, you’re a vampire. Learn to act like one.”

Donghyuck gulps as he lets Dongyoung’s harsh words sink in. He was right, killing humans is in his nature now. He and Minhyung were simply fooling themselves into thinking that he could spend the rest of eternity avoiding human blood. Eventually, he was going to cave. It was inevitable and the sooner he accepted it, the sooner the guilt would stop.

But no matter how he looked at it, he doesn’t see himself _ever_ willingly ending someone’s life. He spent his entire childhood underneath his father’s coat. He watched in fascination as his father cured patient after patient and even though most of his human memories were sketchy now he could still vividly remember the day he assisted his father in a minor surgery for the first time. Albeit he didn’t do much except pass his father the correct instruments but he still felt giddy when the young man made a full recovery.

It was the greatest day of his life.

The feelings he felt when he witnessed a patient being cured was nothing short of euphoric while the feeling of watching someone die, well…

“Minhyung, do you mind if I talk to you inside for a moment?” Dongyoung questions as he turns his back towards them to walk into the house.

Minhyung casts a concerned look at Donghyuck who simply nods in approval and steps back to allow Minhyung to follow his maker.

“Are you sure you’ll be alright?”

“I’ll be fine, I’ll wait out here. Hurry, you shouldn’t keep your maker waiting.”

Minhyung sighs and hastily walks through the door before gently shutting the door behind him.

“Hyung, are you okay? Why do wish to speak to me in private?”

Dongyoung sighs. “Because I didn’t want to scare him anymore than I already have. Look, he needs to start drinking human blood. Now. Yes, he’s going to kill people along the way but the quicker he makes his first kill, the quicker he’ll get over it. You’re being naive by allowing him to abstain from human blood, his aura is already weak even though new vampires generally are very strong due to their increased appetite.”

“I get what you’re saying but you don’t know Donghyuck the way I do.” Minhyung argues back. “He will _never_ forgive himself if he hurts someone. There has to be another way for him to get through this!”

“As someone who’s been around for nearly a millennium I can assure you that there is no alternative.” Dongyoung informs grimly.

“What am I supposed to do then? If he’s forced to drink human blood he might not want to live with himself.”

“Well you have options in that case. Firstly, you’re his maker. You have the power to force him to do anything you please but knowing you, you probably would never do that.”

“That’s right.” Minhyung agrees. “In all the years we’ve known each other you’ve only used that ability on me during life or death situations and I plan on doing the same for Donghyuck. I already messed up by turning him when he asked me not to”-

“ _You turned him against his will?”_ Dongyoung exclaims loudly.

Minhyung guiltily turns his head away. “I know. Which is why I’m doing everything I can to make it up to him. If drinking animal blood is what he wants then I’ll do anything to try and make it work. I’m not a fool, I know it’s impossible but I have to try. For his sake.”

Dongyoung rubs his temples. “Minhyung, we’re all brought onto to this earth for a purpose. You despise killing and the most you’ve done about it is starve yourself even though it would have been easier for you to simply end your own life Why do you think that is?”

“Well because”-

“Because?” Dongyoung raises his eyebrow.

“I-I don’t know.” Minhyung finally admits after a brief pause. “It just never occurred to me to take my own life.”

“Exactly, you still have so much more to accomplish. You’re destined for something amazing, I can feel it. I saw it in your face the night I met you and I still see it now. If Donghyuck is not happy then don’t force him to be. Maybe, this is where his journey is supposed to end but that doesn’t mean that yours is over too. From my perspective, it seems like Donghyuck is an important stepping stone for you to find your true happy ending.”

Minhyung clenches his teeth furiously. “You’re my maker and I’ll show you respect for now but I might not forgive you if you’re implying what I think you’re implying.”

Dongyoung softens his eyes. “I’m sorry if what I’m saying is difficult to hear but it’s the truth. You can keep trying with him if it’s what you really want but you’re walking to a dead end.”

Minhyung swallows painfully. He hated to hear what Dongyoung was saying but there was a feeling embedded deep within him that knew that he was right.

“I-I need to go now. I can’t leave Donghyuck alone for too long and besides, we need to leave before the sun rises.”

“I understand. I hope you realise that I’m saying what I’m saying because I care about you, not because I’m trying to be selfish.”

“I know, hyung.” Minhyung sighs and heads towards the door. He pushes it open and quickly scans the surrounding area for Donghyuck.

“Donghyuck?” He calls out anxiously.

Dongyoung follows him and frowns. “Minhyung, I can no longer sense his presence. He must have left while we were talking.”

Minhyung instantly gets a sinking feeling in his chest. What if he overheard what Dongyoung said? He wasn’t in the best mental state before he could only _imagine_ what he must be going through now.

Luckily Minhyung knew Donghyuck better than he knew himself and knew _exactly_ where the younger would have ran off to if he truly was having a mental breakdown.

“Hyung, I think I know where he is. Do you mind staying here for the rest of the night in case he comes back though?”

“Of course, hurry before it’s too late.” Dongyoung urges.

Minhyung flashes himself through the darkness and hurriedly makes his way to the one place that he knew could always calm Donghyuck down.

The hilltop.

As he nears the location he suddenly senses Donghyuck’s presence and internally relaxes. He could tell that Donghyuck’s emotions were all over the place but at least he was alive.

When he finally makes it to the top of the hill and spots his lover he instantly yells out his name.

“Donghyuck! What are you doing here? Why’d you just leave like that?!”

Donghyuck solemnly turns his head to face Minhyung which causes the elder to flinch when he notices the bloody tears flowing freely down his face. “I heard what your maker said Minhyung. He’s right, this is a dead end. Either I live with this guilt for the rest of eternity or I numb myself like he has. He’s completely lost sight of his humanity, Minhyung!”

“Of course he has! He’s not a human anymore and neither are you! Now come take my hand and let’s go home. The sun is about to rise and we can’t be out here when it does. We’ll continue this conversation tonight.”

Donghyuck doesn’t say anything and stares at Minhyung with a sympathetic expression on his face.

“Donghyuck, now!” Minhyung calls out urgently.

“I can’t.” Donghyuck whispers.

“Why not?”

“Because I _can’t._ I can never be the person your maker is, I don’t _want_ to be. I loved being a human, it was my defining trait. I dedicated my life to saving other people, it was what gave me joy every day and as much as I love you Minhyung and as much as I want to spend an eternity with you, I can’t. Not like this. Not when I’m losing sight of who I was raised to be.”

Minhyung feels his throat tighten.

“What are you trying to say, my love?” He hears himself asking.

Donghyuck uses the back of his hand to wipe away his tears. “I know my father was proud of me when he died. He knew that I would continue his work and protect our family’s legacy but if he saw me today, saw me hunting and killing animals, saw me almost _taking somebody else’s life,_ well, I really think I’d be letting him down and I-I can’t do that. My family loved me so much Minhyung and this, this isn’t what they would have wanted for me and it’s not what _I_ want for me either. If there was a way for me to spend an eternity with you _without_ the bloodlust then heaven knows I would have made it work but…”

Minhyung flashes himself to where Donghyuck is standing and pulls him into an embrace. “No. You can’t do this. I’m your maker and I tell you what to do. If I want you to stay alive then that’s what you’re going to do.”

Donghyuck softly cups Minhyung’s cheeks and smiles gently at him. “But you’re not going to do that, are you? When you turned me, you were desperate and impulsive but now you have a choice. Grant me my freedom or watch me suffer and grow to resent you _and_ myself.”

Minhyung finds himself unable to control himself and bursts into tears. Dongyoung’s words are ringing loud and clear in his ears. “Please don’t go.” He chokes between each word. “I love you.”

“I love you too but please, let me retain my dignity. Let me die with honour while I still have it.”

Donghyuck uses his index finger to lift Minhyung’s face towards his. He places his lips sweetly onto Minhyung’s and kisses him. Minhyung desperately tries to soak up as much of Donghyuck as he possibly can by pulling the boy’s body as close to his own as he could but he knows deep inside that it’s futile.

He already knows what he’s about to let Donghyuck do.

After a few minutes Donghyuck pulls away and lovingly strokes the back of Minhyung’s head. “Thank you for being there for me, for taking care of me and most importantly – for loving me. I thought I’d already been blessed because I was born into such a wonderful and loving home but then I got the pleasure of meeting you and I was blessed a thousand times over. I know the path ahead is going to be a difficult one but your maker was right, you’re destined for something great. I truly believe that you were given the gift of immortality for a reason and there was a reason why we met. Perhaps I’m an important clue on your journey towards your final destination. Anyway I promise you Minhyung, you’re going to find happiness again, there’s no doubt about it.”

Minhyung scoffs bitterly. “That’s hard to believe, you can’t even begin to comprehend the amount of joy that you’ve given me. There’s no way you’re not my final destination, I will never love the way that I’ve loved you. It’s just not physically possible. You’ve given my life meaning and you provided light for me when I was in my darkest tunnel. I-I don’t know how I’m supposed to go on without you.”

“You have to. You promised me that you’ll always protect me as long as I exist, right? Even if my body doesn’t physically exist here anymore, my legacy does. Do you understand what I’m trying to tell you?”

“Yes.” Minhyung replies somberly. “I understand. I will continue to protect your legacy with my life, for as long as I live.”

Donghyuck smiles softly and lightly pecks Minhyung’s forehead. “Thank you. Now, you must go. We only have a few minutes before sunrise.”

Minhyung takes a step back but finds himself unable to move further. He can already feel the effects of the sun burning on his skin but he doesn’t care.

“Minhyung, please go. I love you.”

“I love you.” Minhyung echoes as he tries to etch Donghyuck’s final image into his brain forever.

Donghyuck turns his back towards him and eventually, when the smouldering sensation is dancing on the borderline of fatal, Minhyung flees towards the shelter of the shade.

He runs at full speed until he’s back in the cottage. He heads straight for the bedroom and searches through Donghyuck’s things until he finds the shirt that the younger was wearing when they met for the first time.

He brings it to his face and inhales the scent of his lover and starts to weep. The tears don’t stop and his sobs wrack violently through his body like an angry earthquake.

After about an hour or so he lifelessly flops onto Donghyuck’s bed and curls himself into a foetal position. He remains like this for the entire day, too physically and emotionally exhausted to even move.

The next evening Dongyoung makes his way over to the cottage. He hadn’t heard anything from Minhyung yet and he was starting to get worried because he knew how tricky it was to try and find a runaway baby vampire. 

Once he arrives though he notices that the front door is open so he takes it as an invitation to let himself in. He searches through the house thoroughly but much to his chagrin, finds nothing. He pauses and tries to feel for Minhyung’s presence and sighs with relief when he finally feels his familiar aura. It isn’t too far from his own location, he figures he should meet up with him to find out what’s going on.

He follows the trail until he finds himself nearby a grassy hill. He looks to the top and instantly spots his progeny in a kneeled position. What is he doing?

Dongyoung flashes himself where Minhyung is and discovers him crouching on the ground, crying uncontrollably and trying desperately to gather a pile of ashes into his hand.

Unfortunately the wind was proving itself to be quite an enemy and was making Minhyung’s task quite difficult.

At first, Dongyoung doesn’t understand what Minhyung could possibly be doing. Shouldn’t he be searching for his progeny? Why is he here playing with a pile of dust instead?

But that’s when Dongyoung notices Minhyung’s beloved necklace lying on the sandy earth next to him and suddenly, all of the pieces of the puzzle immediately slide into place.

Without saying a word, Dongyoung kneels onto the floor in front of his progeny and pulls him into a warm hug.

Minhyung weakly tries shoves him away. “Hyung, I have to”-

“Stop. The wind is his soul trying to tell you to let go. Let him be one with his homeland.”

Minhyung tries to wriggle out of his maker’s embrace but Dongyoung doesn’t budge. Eventually after a few moments he stills and closes his eyes.

Suddenly, he feels something lightly brushing against the side of his face. He opens his eyes and realises that it’s a single white rose petal. It was completely unmarred and looked so pure, like Donghyuck himself.

Before Minhyung realises it, there’s suddenly dozens of them wafting through the air around them and he’s forced to choke back a sob.

_I’ll miss you too._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m really sorry for the people who wanted Donghyuck to be alive, you guys have nooo idea how conflicted I was about this chapter. From the start I was like, “Donghyuck is going to die again as a vampire, that’s it” but then I saw how excited people were about the prospect of him being alive and then I was like “Maybe he should be alive then?” 
> 
> Ultimately, I thought it would be better to stand by my original plot, even if it’s not what people wanted because I’ve been planning this for a while and there’s been hints about the REAL kidnapper since chapter one so it wouldn’t make sense for me to suddenly change the entire story. Also I didn’t want to ruin his innocent character. I hope you guys understand because I do feel really bad :( 
> 
> Anyway don’t worry, there still is one major final plot twist left (kidnapper’s identity) and this particular one happens to be my personal favourite so look forward to it! (Leave your theories below I seriously love reading them all)
> 
> Special s/o to the people who noticed that reincarnation was a tag which meant that in order for Haechan to exist, Donghyuck had to be dead. Especially @GeneralAdventure who was the 1st commenter to guess almost EVERYTHING, like damn. 😮


	9. IX

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realised that my enthusiasm for writing went down around the same time Hyuck got injured. I really hope he's doing okay...
> 
> Anyway, when I'm talking about the member in the red velvet suit, imagine their Regular performance on JKL. It's EXACTLY that look i'm describing.

**Year 2018**

Mark furiously taps his fingers against the counter at the Red Velvet Café as he awaits for Joy to come back from the back room with Yeri. When she eventually does, he immediately notices the guilty expression on Yeri’s face and he reminds himself that this isn’t her fault, she only did what any filial progeny would have.

“Wendy-unnie sends her apologies but she can’t join us for our meeting since she’s still recovering. That sick bastard drained her of quite a bit of blood. Anyway, Mark you remember Yeri right? Yeri, say hello!” Joy hisses under her breath.

“H-hello. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

Mark narrows his eyes. The Yeri that he knew was a confident and boisterous young lady who never let anyone, even her own coven members, get her down. For someone as outspoken as her to appear so shaken in front of him right now obviously meant that they were in serious trouble.

“Yes, of course I remember you. Now not to appear rude or anything but can we please get back to the matter at hand? Yeri, what can you tell me about the man in the mask? Did you notice anything else about him?”

“He had a diamond brooch that was in the shape of the VDC emblem on his collar. I don’t think it was fake because I could tell from the way he talked that he was someone important. Even though he was wearing a mask, I would say from his physique and voice that he’s probably under thirty biologically.”

Well that confirms his suspicions that the kidnapper was someone powerful. Could they be older than him? Older than Doyoung possibly? He didn’t even want think about the consequences if that were the case.

“Any ideas who it could be?” Joy asks, flipping her long hair back.

Mark sighs. “I’ve only met two members of the VDC so far who fit the bill but they seemed more like henchmen than anything else. Doyoung-hyung mentioned that he had a friend who was on the council so he’s probably our best lead for now. Can you tell me exactly what happened during the exchange?”

Yeri inhales deeply and starts. “Well I found Haechan on the street and I knocked him out”-

Mark tightly clenches his fist. “How?”

“With chloroform. The man was very specific about that for some reason, he made it extremely clear that I wasn’t to harm Haechan under any circumstances. I brought him back to the café where I found a note that instructed me to leave him in the front of the shop and that Wendy-unnie was in the stock room. I went to go check on her quickly and when I came back, Haechan was gone.”

It’s taking every last ounce of Mark’s will power not to scream out profanities to the heavens. He’s finding it a lot easier to focus on his fury than on the nagging voice in the back of his head that was taunting him and telling him that it’s his fault that Haechan was taken in the first place.

If he had just been honest from the start, if he had been more vigilant about his guarding duties and _followed_ Haechan right after he stormed out-

“So he obviously wants to use Haechan as leverage against you.” Joy notes, whipping Mark out of his anxiety spiral. “But why? What ancient VDC member could you have pissed off to make him want to do this to you?”

Mark shakes his head. “If I only knew we wouldn’t be in this situation. It’s just so difficult to have a clear mind when I’m so worried about Haechan’s safety, I mean, what kind of torture could they be putting him through? He’s still so naive, he doesn’t realise how barbaric some of these ancient vampires can be!”

Joy places her hand comfortingly on Mark’s shoulder. “Relax. This person is trying to blackmail you, they’re not going to hurt him since he’s their only hand. The fact that Yeri was ordered not hurt him says it all. Find your maker, get in contact with his friend in the VDC and find out what you can about the other members. Chances are he’s someone who’s ranked quite highly if he’s capable of pulling something like this off.”

Mark lets out a shaky breath. Thank god Joy was here to think clearly for him. “You’re right. Panicking isn’t going to get Haechan to safety. Thank you for your help so far and sorry if I was harsh on you earlier on. You were just protecting your maker, it was the right thing to do.”

“It’s alright. Call us if you make a breakthrough.” Joy calls out as Mark starts to heads the door.

“I will.”

* * *

Mark waits impatiently outside the door of the apartment his maker rented while he was in the city. The apartment was located in a wealthy neighbourhood where everyone wore the latest fashion and drove the trendiest cars. It was difficult to bump into someone whose bank balance didn’t end with six zeros.

In terms of security it made for a great hiding place for a vampire since most people were too absorbed in their own lives to worry about their neighbours but Mark could never see himself living in such a place as he has always been a simple guy and never cared for such frivolous luxuries while Doyoung on the other hand thrived off of them.

After what was probably only a few seconds but felt like eternity to Mark, a slightly dishevelled Doyoung wearing nothing but a silk robe finally opens the door.

“Mark! What a surprise, I wasn’t expecting”-

“Haechan’s been kidnapped.” Mark interrupts bluntly.

Doyoung blinks and immediately steps aside to allow Mark to blaze straight past him into the apartment.

“It was the VDC.” He continues, folding his arms rigidly. “They blackmailed Wendy’s coven into kidnapping him on their behalf and now he’s in their possession. I need the contact details of your acquaintance in the VDC so that I can find out exactly who is responsible for this!”

Suddenly, Mark hears a deep voice entering the room. “Acquaintance, hmm? I know you said we were keeping it a secret but I was hoping for something a little more than that.”

Mark snaps his head towards the sound and discovers a tall pale man with slicked back lavender-coloured hair walking towards them. He was wearing a deep red velvet suit that hugged his body oh-so-snugly and if it weren’t for his current state of panic, Mark probably would have drooled a little.

His action of pulling on his cufflinks caused Mark’s eyes to drop down to his wrists and that’s when the truth hits him.

“You’ve been sleeping with a member of the VDC?!”

Doyoung slaps his forehead in embarrassment and turns his head away. “It’s not what you think Mark.”

Mark makes a disgusted sound and shakes his head. “Whatever, I don’t have time to deal with that right now. You, handsome guy who’s banging my maker, I need a list of all the members on the council who over six-hundred years old but under thirty physically.”

“You can call me Jaehyun. And I don’t mind giving you the names but it would be easier if you could describe him in any other way? I might be able to identify him myself.”

Mark narrows his eyes suspiciously. “I was expecting some resistance, why are you being so helpful? Are you really going to betray your comrades so easily?”

Jaehyun gives him a friendly smile. “I wouldn’t consider anyone who thinks it’s okay to kidnap an innocent human as a ‘comrade’. Plus I’ve heard about your situation from Doyoung, Haechan is very important to you right? You’re family so what’s important to you is important to me.”

Mark watches in confusion as Doyoung slyly makes an action to get Jaehyun to stop talking. “Family? What are you talking about?”

“Nothing, he means nothing. Haechan is our main priority right now so let’s focus on that. Doyoung says, desperately trying to change the topic. “Mark, you trust me right? Well I trust Jaehyun and I’m telling you he’s got your best interests at heart. Let him help you”

Jaehyun sighs and combs his hand through his hair which looked surprisingly soft despite the fact that it was obviously bleached. “He’s right. So tell me, what else do you know about him?”

Mark darts his eyes curiously at the two of them before he finally relents. His maker has never let him down in over a millennium, there’s no way he will now. “I never met him myself but from what Wendy’s progeny, Yeri, said he wore a mask to conceal his identity but a diamond brooch of the VDC’s logo was visible on his shirt collar.”

Mark swallows uncomfortably as he watches Jaehyun’s face fall.

“Jae? What’s wrong?” Doyoung asks, immediately concerned.

“A diamond brooch? A _real_ diamond brooch?” Jaehyun repeats loudly.

Mark raises his eyebrow. That’s the detail he’s choosing to focus on? Ancient vampires have had centuries to build up their vast wealth, surely someone owning a diamond brooch wouldn’t be _that_ remarkable but somehow, Jaehyun’s face told a different story.

“Yes, a real diamond brooch. Yeri has got pretty expensive taste so there’s no way she would have made a mistake.”

Jaehyun furrows his eyebrows and he clears his throat. “There’s only one person who wears that brooch in the VDC.”

“Who?” Mark demands.

“Our leader.”

Doyoung audibly gasps. “Your leader? As in the most influential vampire in the entire world? What on earth is he doing going around kidnapping random humans for? Surely he has more important things to do than that?!”

“It’s because of me.” Mark whispers. “He left a message with Yeri saying that if I wanted Haechan back then I had to find him and that I already know what he looks like. I mean, I think I’d know it if I knew who the leader of the VDC is? Jaehyun, who is he and what is his name? I need to know where I can find him and figure out why he would want to do this to me.”

“Nobody on the council knows his name or even what he looks like.”

“What?” Doyoung exclaims in amazement.

Jaehyun nods his head affirmatively. “In all the centuries that the council has been active, he’s never once made a physical appearance at our meetings. He usually sends a messenger on his behalf. Recently he’s been also leaving us video messages but he always covers his face. Is there anyone from your past who you think would have it out for you?”

“ _No._ Not any vampires anyway. This is so frustrating, how am I ever supposed to find him?”

Jaehyun suddenly grins, earning a strange look from the others in the room. “It’s a good thing your boyfriend went missing in 2018. We could track his phone via an app.”

“Oh come Jae! Surely the leader of the world’s largest vampire government would be smart enough to throw out his victim’s phone!” Doyoung criticises.

“No, he’s got a point. It’s a good start and it might lead us to the correct path.” Mark says, surprising the both of them.

Jaehyun smiles gratefully at Mark and even though they had just met, something about Jaehyun’s aura makes Mark feel warm and safe. It was a similar feeling he got when he was around Doyoung but at the same time, completely different.

He really hopes he’s not being an idiot by trusting him.

* * *

Taeyong nervously waits in his office with sweat beading down his face. He already closed the diner and sent home the employees so that there would be no distractions.

He stares at the red telephone on his desk with anticipation, silently willing it to ring. He’s been sitting like this for nearly three hours but he doesn’t dare to get up.

The consequences are too deadly.

Even though he’s anticipating it, the sudden obnoxious ringing sound of the telephone still causes him to jump up.

He gulps anxiously and tensely picks up the phone. “H-hello?”

“Just calling to check in with you. I want you stay at the diner today and keep an eye on things.”

Taeyong curls his first into a tight ball and takes a deep breath. “Why are you doing this? Or rather, _how_ are you doing this? I don’t feel like I’m in control of my own body, I can’t do certain things, say certain things…”

The voice on the other end chuckles. “Don’t you worry about that. Just remember all the things I told you earlier when I was there in person. Got it?”

“Got it.” Taeyong mumbles almost incoherently. Nonetheless, the caller appeared to have heard him and immediately cuts the call.

Taeyong groans in frustration and slams the phone back onto the receiver. This is wrong, he hates that he’s a part of this disgusting plan. For some reason he finds himself obeying every single order he’s given, even though they’re things he could never imagine himself doing in a million years.

And now, he’s expected to just _sit_ here and _not_ do anything. Technically, there was never an order that was stopping him from _going_ there so maybe he could just head down there for a bit to check if everything was alright…

But at the same time he doesn’t want to do anything that could incite the wrath of _that person._

Taeyong ponders over it for a few moments before he eventually realises that he can’t take it anymore and finds himself walking towards the freezer, stopping for a brief moment in front of it before finally steadily sliding it open.

The air is brisk but not icy enough to cause hypothermia so that was a good sign.

“Haechan?” He calls out hesitantly.

Currently, the boy was lying on the floor of the freezer. He was, however, not in there by choice.

A massive weight sat in the middle of the room, probably weighing about a tonne, and connected to it was a chain. A chain that was linked to the pair of handcuffs that were currently on Haechan’s hands.

It seems like whoever put him in there tried to show him some mercy by making the chain long enough to allow him to have mobility within the room but they were still short enough to ensure he would be forced to stop just out of arms reach of the door.

The freezer was located at the very back of the diner well out of hearing shot of the customers, furthermore, the only people who had access to this room were the employees and the only _person_ who had a key to the lock was Taeyong himself.

It was the perfect jail.

“Mark?” Haechan calls out uncertainly as he battles to get his eyes open. After a few moments he finally manages to manoeuvre himself into a sitting position but his eyes remained bleary.

Taeyong crouches on the floor in front of him and removes his own jacket to place it around the younger’s shoulders. “It’s me, Taeyong.”

Haechan shakes his head and widens his eyes as he finally manages to completely wake himself up. “Hyung? What’s going on? Why am I handcuffed?”

Taeyong sighs and places his hand on Haechan’s shoulder. “I’m very sorry, I’ve been ordered to keep you in here until further notice.”

“By who?” Haechan asks, a sense of fear mixed with anger bubbling up within himself.

Taeyong opens his mouth but no words come out. He struggles for a few more seconds before he shakes his head and gives up. “I can’t say it. I don’t know why but I just physically cannot say it. And even though I want to try and unchain you, my body refuses to listen to me. I don’t know what’s going on with me!”

“Do you know what they look like? What’s their name? Was it a young girl with long blonde hair?”

Taeyong buries his head into his hand and groans. “I know, I know the answer to all of your questions but I can’t answer them! I’m not allowed to say a single thing about the person who brought you over here and it’s infuriating!”

Haechan frowns. Could someone have compelled Taeyong-hyung? Who was the girl who kidnapped him? Was she the secret attacker all along? Was Mark innocent? It’s weird, even though he was absolutely livid with Mark before right now all he wishes is that he was back in their apartment, arguing about which Beyoncé era was the most iconic.

(Haechan thinks it’s Lemonade era while Mark always replied with ‘What’s Beyoncé?’)

The more he thinks about it, the more he realises how often Mark would humour him in situations like those. He remembers how interested Mark would be in their conversations, the way he always worried him, the way he would stroke his hair at night when he mistakenly believed him to have already fallen asleep…

Maybe it was the drugs talking but Haechan would do anything to see Mark right now. He realises now that he acted too rash, why didn’t he listen to Mark’s explanation? In all the time that they’d known each other, Mark had never given him a reason to suspect him so why did he have to act so high and mighty and storm out of the building before even trying to hear Mark’s story?

Maybe if he wasn’t so impulsive all the time then he wouldn’t be in this situation but there’s nothing he can do about that now.

But maybe there was still something Taeyong could do for him.

“Hyung, do you remember the other day when I gave you an updated version of my resume?”

“I remember you saying something about changing addresses so that’s why you gave it to me.”

“Right, it’s actually Mark’s address. We moved in together. I need you to find that address on your GPS and wait there until he comes back. I’m sure he must be already out there looking for me, I just know he would have realised something was off by now.”

Taeyong gasps and clutches his chest. “You’ve been shacking up with your boyfriend? Haechan!”

“I’m literally chained up and possibly at risk of being killed, I would hardly call this an appropriate time for a lecture. Just get Mark to come here, he’ll be able to free me. Please?” Haechan bats his eyelashes.

Taeyong makes a disapproving noise and stands up. “Look, I don’t think there’s anything Mark can do for us now. This is a pretty severe situation at the moment and I think we’re better off going to the police.”

Haechan instantly snaps his head up. “No, no police. I promise you, I know what I’m talking about. Get Mark.”

* * *

“No, there’s no doubt about it.” Mark pauses in front of his apartment building. “It’s just leading us back to my apartment.”

Doyoung shakes his head disapprovingly. “I thought it would. But I guess it you guys were right, it was worth a shot.”

“I’m just going to go up there to make sure he’s not there. I made Haechan the owner of my apartment so unfortunately you guys can’t enter without his permission.”

Doyoung raises an eyebrow and nudges Jaehyun. “Told you they were serious.”

The two vampires wait on the street while Mark races up to his apartment. He’s back again with five minutes with a disappointed expression on his face.

“I knew he wasn’t going to be there but there was still a part of me that hoped he would be there waiting for me on the couch like usual.”

Jaehyun wraps his arm around Mark shoulders comfortingly. Mark’s not usually one for physical affection, even less so from total strangers, but it Jaehyun’s presence washes a sense of calm over him.

“Stop stressing about it, Mark. We’re going to find your man, I promise. Even if it means going against my own organisation.”

“I don’t get why someone like you is on the council to begin with.” Mark admits.

“Jae, why don’t you tell Mark a little bit more about the council? I didn’t mention it to him before because he had a lot on his plate but now that we know that the council is after him he needs to hear about the faction war.”

Mark immediately snaps his head around to stare at Jaehyun in shock. “War? What war?”

Jaehyun sighs and slips his arm away from Mark. “Right now, there’s a cold war happening within the council. There are two sides, those in favour of our leader and his harsh leadership and those who are not. I fall under the second category.”

“Do you remember when I first turned you Mark? The VDC was around back then but it was only after the 14th century that things started taking a turn for the worst.” Doyoung says gravely.

Mark frowns as he digests Doyoung’s words. “You’re right. I never realised that, somewhere along the line I forgot that they weren’t always a group of demons, no offence Jaehyun.”

Jaehyun raises his hands defensively. “None taken. Anyway, the reason for that is because that’s around the time our new leader came in. Now, I wasn’t around then but I’ve heard whispers from some of the senior council members that he was the progeny of the previous leader and right when his maker let their guard down, he went in for the kill.”

Mark gasps and immediately turns his head towards Doyoung. He can’t even begin to fathom the thought of murdering his maker. How cold-blooded does one have to be to actually take the life of the person who created them?

“Clearly we’re dealing with a merciless psychopath then. To think someone with that kind of mind-set has been running the most powerful vampire organisation…”

“Exactly.” Jaehyun agrees. “That’s why a group of us got together to plan a coup. The other members are aware of it but they don’t know exactly who has gone rogue and who hasn’t so we’re all just playing it safe for now. Not to mention that an all-out civil war will have dire consequences so we’re all doing our best to avoid that bloody outcome.”

“So with that all in mind, does it ring any bells for you Mark?” Doyoung asks gently.

Mark is desperately trying to wrack his brain to figure out who would be out to get him. Jaehyun mentioned the 14th century which was around the time that Donghyuck died so his memories of that era are hazy to say in the least.

He was inconsolable and he while he doesn’t remember going on any sprees out of respect for Donghyuck, he wasn’t necessarily the best person to be around. It’ definitely possibly that he could have done something to someone along the way that would make them hate him enough to try and ruin his life like this.

But who?

“Mark Lee?”

The three vampires immediately turn their heads to face the source of the sound. Mark instantly recognises the owner of the voice by his eye-catching head of red hair.

“Taeyong. Fancy bumping into you here.” Mark hopes that Taeyong isn’t intuitive enough to notice the layer of stress evident in his voice.

“Is it?” Taeyong replies, lifting his slit eyebrow up. “Isn’t this the street outside of your apartment building?”

Mark awkwardly coughs and straightens his back. “I suppose it is. Is there anything I can help you with? Are you looking for Haechan?”

“N-no.” Taeyong answers shakily.

“You’re not looking for him so do you know where he is then?” Jaehyun asks carefully.

Taeyong opens his mouth but then quickly shuts it again.

“I think he’s trying to tell us something but he can’t.” Doyoung quickly deduces.

Mark frowns and takes a closer step towards Taeyong. “Taeyong? Is this true?”

Taeyong seems to battle to move his head but manages to rapidly blink his eyes, hoping it will send a message across to the immortals in front of him.

“Is there anything that you can tell us? A clue for example?” Jaehyun probes.

Taeyong pauses as he tries to think of a way to alert Mark of Haechan’s location when suddenly an idea comes to him.

“Your usual!” He blurts out.

“My usual what?” Mark questions urgently.

“Curly fries. You didn’t eat them today. Well you never eat them but you know what I mean!”

Mark instantly grabs Taeyong’s shoulders. “Are you trying to tell me he’s at the diner? Where in the diner?!”

Taeyong closes his eyes to think before he suddenly opens them. “You like it when your fries are cold right?”

“Cold fries? Most humans I’ve seen enjoy them hot.” Doyoung pipes in.

“No, Mark likes them cold. _Really_ cold.”

“Oh my god he’s in the freezer.” Mark finally realises.

“ _Jesus,_ is he going to be alright in there? What if he freezes to death?” Jaehyun questions, sounding quite concerned.

“My…pies are alright. They’re a little scared but physically unharmed and they’re the ones who told me to find you. I turned up the temperature so that my pies wouldn’t freeze.”

Mark’s is instantly filled with relief. Knowing that Haechan is lucid enough to send for help shows that he’s not being tortured.

“That’s great. We have to get there and rescue him as soon as possible.” Mark says, cracking his knuckles.

“Mark, wait. The sun is about to rise.” Doyoung warns, grabbing his shoulder.

“I don’t care”-

“You can’t rescue him if you’re a pile of ashes.” Doyoung says firmly.

“Look, we know he’s trying to get back at you and he’s clearly been planning this for a while. He could have killed him on the spot but instead he’s keeping him prisoner. Also it’s not like he can anything himself in the daytime either.” Jaehyun pitches in.

“Not to mention Taeyong will be there to keep an eye on him, right?” Doyoung says, somewhat threateningly.

“Of course. Each and every one of my pies are very important to me. Even if they get on my nerves and backchat me sometimes, they’re still _my_ pies and I’ve got a duty to look out for them.”

Mark slumps his shoulders and sighs. He hates to say it but they’re right. There’s nothing they can doing while the sun is out and the truth is, he really doubts anything serious will happen to Haechan in the meanwhile.

There’s also something that’s been playing on his mind like a loop. The first attack happened on the night of their first date. How did this person know that Haechan was going to be someone so important to him? Is it possible that he knew about Donghyuck? It just seems so farfetched but why else would they try and attack someone he barely knew unless they knew about his dating history.

Furthermore, the fact that Yeri was ordered not to harm Haechan under circumstances was also suspicious. Why would the leader of the VDC care if Haechan got scuffed up a bit? Wasn’t the whole point of kidnapping Haechan to get under his nerves?

The only logical explanation he can come up with is that by some miracle, the most dangerous vampire in the world, has a soft spot for his boyfriend.

* * *

Haechan is awoken by the sound of the freezer door sliding open. Unfortunately he’s still feeling some of the effects of the chloroform and unintentionally dozed off sometime after Taeyong had left.

Despite the fact that the diner’s coffeemaker still makes rusty coffee, for some inexplicable reason the diner managed to have motion sensitive lightbulbs that turn off automatically when there’s no movement. This means that he’s unable to make out who’s at the door initially as they have yet to physically enter the room.

“Taeyong-hyung? Is that you? Did you do what I told you to do?”

“And what was that?” A familiar male voice that wasn’t Taeyong’s answers.

Haechan doesn’t even have time to try and figure out who the voice belonged to because they immediately walk into the room after that, causing the lights to switch on.

Haechan immediately tries to shield his eyes from the sudden blinding light and gasps when he finally realises who the boy is. “Oh my god, it’s you! Listen, you have to try and undo these chains! I swear I’ll explain everything afterwards but for now we just have to get out of here!”

A sudden silence appears in the room as the boy doesn’t respond. The only sound that was audible was the sound of Haechan’s own heavy breathing and the resounding clanging of his chains as he brings his hands forward.

He impatiently waits for a response, meeting the other’s impassive gaze with his own, silently begging him to complete his request.

Eventually the boy, seemingly done with his peculiar game, smirks and teases in tone of feigned politeness. “Now why would I do that when it took me so long to get this all set up in the first place?”

Haechan doesn’t understand what the boy is saying at first but when he takes a step forward only to stop only but a few inches away from him while simultaneously failing to do anything to ease his predicament, Haechan’s finally hit with the cold hard truth.

“No...”

The boy chuckles darkly and kneels down in front of him. “I know, I know what you’re going to say. ‘How could you? This is such a betrayal!’ Well let me just tell you this much, Haechan. It’s not personal, not at all. Unfortunately you’re just a human that got caught up in a battle between two very ancient vampires. Your only sin would be being born with that face and if it’s any consolation, I think you’re a pretty cool guy. I mean, obviously you’re nothing compared to the original but for a knock-off you weren’t too shabby.”

_This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening._

“I’ll never forgive you for this.” Haechan spits out vehemently as tears threaten to spill from his eyes.

The boy eye-smiles in amusement and stands up, dusting himself off as he did so. “That’s okay. You weren’t my only friend, I’ve still got my drinking buddies after all. Now if you’ll excuse me, the sun is about to come up and I can’t be around when it does. You don’t have to worry though, I’ll be back soon. After all it’ll be bad for business if _neither_ one of us show up for our shift tonight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah so the reason why i wanted you guys to think that Donghyuck was the bad guy earlier on was because i was worried the truth was going to be too obvious...and i was right! Sooo many people guessed who it was last chapter so if you didn't catch any of my hints, go back to ch8 and read the comments. Pretty much all of my hints were mentioned in the comments lmao.

**Author's Note:**

> Chat to me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/caitstar11) ^^


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